USCC announces annual awards at Compost2026

The U.S. Composting Council (USCC), headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, celebrated achievements in the composting industry during its annual awards ceremony at Compost2026 in Sacramento, California, Feb. 2-5. 

The ceremony recognizes leaders, innovators and contributors to the advancement of composting and compost use. Award recipients include industry veterans, chapter leaders and municipal agencies. 

“These award recipients represent the very best of our industry,” says Linda Norris-Waldt, USCC executive director. “Their leadership, innovation and dedication are advancing composting as a vital solution for building healthy soils, strengthening communities and addressing our most pressing environmental challenges.” 

Brenda Platt of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) received the Jerome Goldstein Award, awarded to an individual who has achieved excellence in their field of study and to honor those who have made significant contributions over their professional career to the field of environmental stewardship and natural resource sustainability. Platt is the director of a composting initiative at ILSR, where she has worked for 40 years.

Matt Cotton was awarded the Hi Kellogg Award for outstanding service to the industry. Cotton has spent more than 25 years in the composting industry. He has developed training programs for multiple waste recycling associations, including USCC, and has taught composting courses across the globe. In addition to his teaching, Cotton has written approved fire and odor plans for composting facilities and conducts research on the organics industry. Cotton served on the USCC board of directors from 1999 to 2017.   

David Paull received the H. Clark Gregory Award for his dedication to grassroots composting initiatives. David is the current president of the Georgia Composting Council and founded his own composting business before becoming a cofounder of B-Corp CompostNow. By utilizing public education, workshops and community partnerships to drive diversion, CompostNow has diverted more than 100 million pounds of food waste, USCC says.   

RELATED: Compost2026: Controlling contamination in Vermont

Cedar Rapids Linn County Solid Waste Agency, Marion, Iowa, received the Large-Scale Compost Manufacturer of the Year Award, which honors facilities managing more than 10,000 tons of material annually. This facility began composting operations in 1994 and now accepts and processes up to 100,000 tons of yard waste and food waste annually, producing about 12,000 tons of finished STA-Certified compost.  

Happy Trash Can, based in Bozeman, Montana, was recognized as the Small-Scale Compost Manufacturer of the Year. Founders Adrienne Huckabone and Ryan Green started Happy Trash Can to create a local, closed-loop food system, collecting and composting food scraps on a local farm. Happy Trash Can collects 2.5 million pounds of food scraps and compostable packaging annually from residents through partnerships with Gallatin and Park County and the City of Bozeman, as well as commercial customers including Bridger Bowl ski area and Montana State University.  

Hillside Solutions and Soil Dynamics received the Organics Diversion Program of the Year Award for commercial and residential organics collection initiatives across Nebraska. Hillside Solutions serves 1,800 households using more than 60 community food waste drop-off sites. As the first and only industrial composting facility in the Omaha area, they process 50,000 tons of food, yard, wood and certified compostable plastics annually. 

The Georgia Composting Council received the State Chapter Rookie of the Year Award, recognizing its efforts as a newly formed chapter within the past five years. The Georgia Composting Council created its first strategic plan in 2024 and is 46 members strong today.  

The Colorado Composting Council (COCC) was presented with the State Chapter of Excellence Award for achievements in chapter leadership. The COCC’s work in advocacy earned them this distinction.  The council's work has led to improved regulations and statewide infrastructure plans for composting. They spent several years engaged in one of the first state efforts to implement extended producer responsibility (EPR) that included composting in its provisions and advocated for compostable packaging labelling. 

Patrick Geraty of St. Louis Composting was awarded Volunteer of the Year for his dedication to the USCC, its leadership and its conference. He has served as board member and treasurer of USCC and was president for three terms. USCC says Geraty has lent his expertise to abstract reviews, program development and strategic decision-making around the annual conference.

The Top Learner Award is given to someone enrolled in the scholar program for USCC’s online learning system, Compost University. In 2025, Michelle Owen, director of operations for Circular Services, completed 35 courses, totaling nearly 25 hours of coursework. Michelle studied courses on process control, quality assurance and diversion to business and compost science.  

The USCC Young Professional (YP) of the Year Award went to Katya Forsyth. Forsyth serves as healthy soils program manager for Zero Foodprint and is executive director of the Association of Compost Producers (ACP). Forsyth is currently the chair of USCC’s YP Committee. 

Awardees are nominated by peers and honored each year at the USCC's Annual Conference and Tradeshow.