SWANA announces 2018 Excellence Awards winners

The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), Silver Spring, Maryland, announced the winners of the 2018 Excellence Awards June 5. The awards recognize prominent programs and facilities in 13 different categories spanning a range of solid waste industry subsectors.

Award winners represent the most innovative and dynamic organizations throughout North America as judged by their peers, according to SWANA.

“The recipients of the SWANA Excellence Awards represent the best solid waste management practices in North America today,” David Biderman, executive director and CEO of SWANA, says. “Community leaders should be very proud of the valuable contributions that these projects provide to their citizens.”

SWANA’s Excellence Award Program recognizes outstanding solid waste programs and facilities that demonstrate the highest practices through their commitment to using effective technologies and processes in system design and operations, advancing worker and community health and safety, and implementing successful public education and outreach programs. These programs also exhibit that they are fiscally and environmentally responsible through their compliance with all applicable federal, state and local regulations, SWANA says.

The winners will be acknowledged and awarded at SWANA’s WASTECON conference in Nashville, Tennessee, on August 22.

2018 Excellence Award Winners

Collection & Transfer Excellence Awards

• Collection systems
• Bronze: City of Greenville Public Works Solid Waste Division, South Carolina, “Automated Collection System”
• Transfer station
• Gold: King County Solid Waste Division, Washington, “Factoria Recycling and Transfer Station”

Communication, Education and Marketing Excellence Awards 

• Awareness campaign
• Gold: Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation “Let’s recycle RIght!”
• Silver: City of Nanaimo Public Works Department, British Columbia, “Sort Toss Roll Automated Waste Collection Program”
• Bronze: City of Hamilton, Ontario, “Can You Green Your Routine?”, and city of Toronto, Ontario, “Recycle Right”
• Education program
• Gold: City of Toronto, Ontario, “The Mayor’s Towering Challenge”
• Bronze: City of St. Albert, Alberta, “Curbside Waste Education Program”
• CEM tools
• Silver: City of Culver City, California, “Polystyrene Ban Campaign;” City of Nanaimo Public Works Department, British Columbia, “Sort Toss Roll Automated Waste Collection Program Phase I;” and Niagara Region, Ontario, “Recycle your Bicycle”

Innovation in Communication, Education and Marketing 

Winner: City of Toronto, Ontario, “The Mayor’s Towering Challenge”

Landfill Gas and Biogas Excellence Award

Winner: City of Toronto, Ontario, “The Mayor’s Towering Challenge”

Landfill Management Excellence Awards 

• Landfill management
• Gold: OC Waste and Recycling, California, “Prima Deshecha Landfill” and PVT Land Company, Hawaii, “Integrated Solid Waste Management Facility”
• Landfill development
• Silver: City of Tacoma, Washington, “Landfill Redevelopment Projects”

Planning & Management Excellence Award

• Integrated solid waste management systems
• Gold: Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine, British Columbia

Sustainable Materials Management Excellence Awards

• Composting systems
• Bronze: RUR Greenlife Pvt., Ltd., Mumbai, India, “Decentralized and Sustainable Composting System”
• Recycling systems
• Silver: Penn Waste, Inc., Pennsylvania, “45-tph Single Stream System Retrofit”
• Special waste management
• Silver: County of Wellington Solid Waste Services Division, Ontario, “Mobile Household Hazardous Waste Depot” and PVT Land Company, Hawaii, “C&D landfill in Nanakuli”

Waste-To-Energy Excellence Award

• Gold: Regional Municipality of Durham, Ontario, “Durham York Energy Centre”