Silver Spring, Md. — The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) has announced the winners of its 2004 Excellence Awards. The awards honor "outstanding programs that are committed to the environmentally sound and economically sound management of solid waste," according to SWANA. The winners will be recognized at a luncheon at the upcoming WASTECON 2004 convention in Phoenix in September.

Entrants vie for the gold, silver or bronze award in each category. The gold winners are: the City of Mesa, Ariz., Environmental Management Division for the Collection System Award; the Metro Waste Authority in Des Moines, Iowa, for the Transfer Station Award; the Solid Waste Agency of Lake County, Ill., for the Communication Award; the Mecklenburg County, N.C., Commercial Recycling Program for the Marketing Award; the Montgomery County, Ohio, Solid Waste District for the Public Education Award; the New River Regional Landfill in Raidford, Fla., for the Landfill Management Award; the City of Nashua, N.H., Department of Public Works for the Solid Waste Management System Award; the Crow Wing County, Minn., Solid Waste Department for the Special Waste Award; Maui EKO Systems/Pacific Biodiesel in Wailuku, Maui, Hawaii, for the Composting Award; the Montgomery County, Md., Recycling Center for the Recycling Award; and Montenay York Resource Energy Systems in York, Pa., for the Waste-to-Energy Award.