January 2019 News
Board of Director's Meeting

Thursday, February, 2019 10:00 am - 2:00pm.
TAGRO - 2301 Clevelend Way, Tacoma, WA 98421.

Join your fellow members and the Board of Directors for a presentation on proposed HB 1114 - Reducing the wasting of food in order to fight hunger and reduce environmental impacts. Also learn what's going on with the Pacific Coast Collaborative and efforts to help the grocery sector reduce food waste!
 
WORC members are welcome.  If you are interested in attending, RSVP to WORC@aminc.org.
Click here to meet out new Board of Directors!
Board Member Spotlight
Howard Stenn

Howard Stenn's interest in composting germinated at the UC Santa Cruz Center for Agroecology farm. During his 2 years as a farm apprentice and teaching assistant, he discovered that generous use of compost yields vigorous plants that outgrow pests and stresses from both natural forces and growers' missteps.

When Howard moved to Seattle, among his first stops was Seattle Tilth where he found (past WORC President) Jeff Gage plumbing a compost-heated hot tub at the city's first Backyard Composting Demonstration. Soon Howard was managing the new Master Composter program, which he helped teach for over 20 years.

That early step into the compost field lead to work on product standards and application guidelines for municipalities and the US Composting Council, quality control and market development for commercial composters, and a stint supervising manure and bark composting for a bagged soils manufacturer.

Howard led the team that developed specifications for the Post Construction Soil Quality BMP for WDOE's Stormwater Manual. The BMP calls for preserving native soils at new developments, or amending disturbed and imported soils with compost to restore stormwater infiltration and storage capacities.

Work on the BMP lead to varied projects investigating soils for bioretention and other Low Impact Development applications. He promotes the use of unscreened native soils amended with moderate amounts of stable compost to preserve soil structure, minimizing use of mined sand or fine screening soil and compost.

Amid this mix Howard continues to work on technical and policy initiatives for government agencies, so don't be surprised if you get a call asking about your experience or opinion of various practices.

Member Spotlight    
Olympic Organics

Jeff West and Stephanie Miller are the owners of Olympic Organics in Kitsap County. They often refer to themselves as the accidental composters, having stumbled into the composting industry after the local composting company went out of business. Without another outlet to dispose of food waste collected by their recycling company they acquired the defunct operations and opened Olympic Organics.

Olympic Organics is the only composting company located in Kitsap County. The company processes around 24,000 cubic yards of debris each year. The feedstocks include green waste, food waste, manure, and liquid beer waste. The facility runs an aerated static pile system with a 42-day cooking process and a curing process that varies depending on the time year.

The company is committed to making the best compost possible. In this pursuit, Olympic has partnered with the Compost Manufacturing Alliance to test the compostability of packaging to reduce the amount of contamination seen at composting facilities.
Jeff and Stephanie have fallen in love with composting and look forward to the future the industry holds.
Become a Member!
 
WORC is the forum that provides education, networking, and advocacy to the Organic Recycling Industry. If you want to associate with the best in the industry you belong with WORC.

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Get Involved
 
Volunteers are the heart of WORC! -You have great ideas to share. Participate in the work that steers the industry! By serving on a committee or task force, you will help guide WORC's future.

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Submit an article, written or found, for the next newsletter to the - WORC Office.
In the News

  • The Composting of Human Remains may be legalized in Washington State as proposed by Senate Bill 5001. Recent reports by the Seattle Times, NBC News, and Wired provide more details into this fascinating development.
  • The EPA has created an Excess Food Opportunities Map to support diversion efforts and reduce organic waste from landfills. This interactive resource displays potential food waste generators as well as food waste recipients such as composting facilities, anaerobic digestion facilities, and food banks.
  • Fires at Compost Facilities: Biocycle provides information and case studies on spontaneous combustion and wildfire threats to compost facilities.

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