BioCycle August 2010, Vol. 51, No. 8, p. 4
Nora Goldstein

Amidst the sounds of summer – which this year includes the constant hum of the air conditioner – is the buzz of composting, organics recycling and renewable energy activity. Overall, this buzz has a good vibe, a feeling that in our BioCycle “universe,” things are moving in a very positive and constructive direction. This August 2010 issue of BioCycle provides plenty of examples.
Riding the SunChips Wave: Each summer, we pull together a Special Report on compostable products. As planning began for this year’s report, it became apparent that a key story to explore was Frito-Lay’s official debut of its “100% COMPOSTABLE” SunChips packaging. This bold marketing move not only has created quite a buzz, it puts composting on center stage, offering a mainstream venue to change consumers’ thinking and behavior about managing their household garbage. Communities, local governments, composters and others need to capitalize on this visibility and lock in diversion practices.
BioCycle’s 10th Annual Conference On Renewable Energy From Organics Recycling: There is nothing like putting together a conference agenda to feel the buzz of activity and excitement surrounding a particular subject area (see pages 15-17). This year’s conference – October 18-20, 2010, in Des Moines, Iowa – highlights the significant inroads that anaerobic digestion of organic waste streams have made, and the opportunities yet to be tapped. The conference agenda also weaves together the composting and renewable energy sectors, illustrating how the combination of technologies and systems is building a robust organics diversion infrastructure.
BioCycle Global 2011: The BioCycle International section typically appears in every other issue of the magazine, including August. This month, however, we decided to hold these articles for the October issue, as part of the official launch of BioCycle Global 2011 – an International Conference on Composting, Organics Recycling and Renewable Energy, April 11-14, 2011, in San Diego, California. Over the next few weeks, we will be reaching out to colleagues around the world to provide project and policy updates that we will publish in October, setting the stage for our conference next April.
Breaking News and Networking: In late July, BioCycle Managing Editor Dan Sullivan traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with officials at the U.S. Department of Agriculture about the relatively new “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” initiative. One salient point coming out of that discussion: Food is waste is food is waste is food, and it’s high time we as policymakers, industry leaders and citizens put on our thinking caps and begin to connect the dots and close the loop with regard to our energy, waste and food systems. During his trip to Washington, Dan also learned of an emerging issue in the other Washington harming farmers and gardeners who use compost and dairy manure for fertilizer (see story, page 32). The breaking story of the persistent pesticide aminopyralid is reminiscent of the clopyralid issue BioCycle began giving significant coverage to almost a decade ago involving the same agricultural chemical company and affecting the same region of the country.
As we all begin to hold ourselves up to better accountability, BioCycle applauds companies like Frito-Lay for setting the stage for progress. And as you read this August issue, we hope you, too, will feel the Summer Buzz!