The US Composting Council released the people and projects receiving its annual awards:

Composter of the Year-Large Scale

Prince George’s County Compost Facility, processing 70,000 tons of yard trimmings and food scraps each year in aerated static pile systems to produce LeafGro and LeafGro Gold.

Clark Gregory Award (Grassroots)

Jodie Colon of the NYC Compost Project at the NY Botanical Garden in New York City who has educated hundreds of Master Composters and thousands of Bronx residents about composting, supporting 55 community compost sites and working with hundreds of volunteers.

Organics Diversion Program of the Year

Finger Lakes Compost for its education and outreach that has led to hauling commercially and residentially generated organics to a nearby facility and reuse of grain bags to sell finished compost.

Composter of the Year-Small Scale

Rust Belt Riders, which began with bike-powered collection routes that grew to a fleet of four trucks hauling food scraps from 160 locations in the Cleveland region — and processes 35,000 lbs/month of material on a 500-sq.ft. permitted area.

Hi Kellogg Award (Service)

Jack Hoeck, who has been producing compost for 43 years for Rexius, Inc. in Oregon, and was a founding member of the Composting Council of Oregon, and currently serves on the USCC Certification Commission.

Rufus Chaney Award (Research)

Dr. Robert Miller, instrumental in creation of the Test Methods for the Evaluation of Composting and Compost protocol and the Compost Analysis Proficiency Program that underpin the USCC’s Seal of Testing Assurance Certified Compost program.