After announcing the Steve Thompson Memorial Grant, organizers received over 200 applications. Ultimately, only nine individuals were selected for the all-expenses-paid trip to the Resource Recycling Conference, held two weeks ago in New Orleans.

“Remembering Steve Thompson by bringing eager learners to the Resource Recycling Conference was an honor,” said Keefe Harrison of The Recycling Partnership, an organization that was heavily influenced by Thompson and which helped organize the grant. “Steve’s family was pleased to learn that he is memorialized through the continued good work of others.”

The Recycling Partnership asked the nine recipients of the grant to say what they took away from the conference experience. Those perspectives are shared in the slideshow at the bottom of this page.

Re-TRAC Connect’s Rick Penner noted the grant program will continue at the 2017 conference.

“Our team valued and enjoyed the opportunity to work with Steve on a number of projects over the years and so were proud to support the Steve Thompson Memorial Grant Program,” Penner said. “We look forward to working with the other partnering organizations to ensure that the program is made available to another group of inspired recyclers next year.”

The 2017 Resource Recycling Conference will be held in Minneapolis Aug. 28-30, 2017, and the 2017 Steve Thompson Memorial Grant Program application process will be open next spring. Head to rrconference.com for more info in the months to come.

The slideshow below features winners of the 2016 grant. Hover over a photo to bring up arrows that allow you to advance through the sequence. Click on individual photos to see quotes from the grant recipients.

2016 Steve Thompson Memorial Grant Recipients