Wasatch Integrated Waste Management District has received the Solid Waste Association of North America's (SWANA) 2026 Outstanding Social Media Campaign Award for its "Is This Compostable?" video series. The series was produced in partnership with Saltworks Digital, a Salt Lake City marketing agency.
The award comes from SWANA's Communication, Education & Marketing Technical Division. SWANA announced winners in August and presented the award Sept. 30 at its Awards Celebration during RCon 2026 in St. Louis. Wasatch Integrated was the only Utah organization among this year's SWANA award recipients.
In the series, district staff place unusual items in the pile at Wasatch Integrated's compost facility and document how quickly they break down. One episode, "Battle of the Burgers: Compost Edition," pits fast-food burgers against each other. The format turns a common resident question — what actually belongs in the compost? — into content people want to watch and share.
"Most residents only think about us on collection day, and that's exactly why social media matters so much," said Preston Lee, executive director of Wasatch Integrated. "It lets us show up between those moments, answer the questions people really have, and have some fun doing it. Every video is built around what we hear from the communities we serve across Davis and Morgan counties."
Lee credited the district's agency partnership for the campaign's tone. "Saltworks has been a true creative partner," he said. "From day one, they understood we didn't want polished corporate messaging. We wanted something our residents would recognize as their own, and this award shows that approach works."
The campaign was led by Nina Groom, social media manager at Saltworks Digital.
"Wasatch Integrated is the kind of client every creative team hopes for — they're willing to put a cheeseburger in a compost pile and see what happens," Groom said. "The team brings real expertise and a great sense of humor, and they trust us to let both show. That matters, because audiences today can spot a scripted ad instantly. What earns attention now is authenticity: real staff, real facilities and honest answers to real questions."
Lee also represented the district on the RCon 2026 main stage, joining a panel discussion titled "Innovation: Nature-Based Solutions and the New Economics of Circularity."