Issuu

Vol. XI No. 6

November / December 2017

Serving Soil, Mulch, Compost & Wood Pellet Producers www.SoilandMulchProducerNews.com

NEWS

Attention Readers !

Are you looking for Products, Equipment or Services for your business? If so, please check out these leading companies advertised inside:

Bagging / Wrapping Systems Amadas Industries – pg 7 Premier Tech Chronos – pg 17

Buildings & covers ClearSpan – pg 15

Compost Equipment/spreaders Farmer Automatic – pg 20 HCL Machine Works – pg 16

Grinders, Chippers & Screening Systems Action Conveyors – pg 4 Amadas Industries – pg 7 Apollo Equipment – pg 15 Bandit Industries, Inc – pg 13 CBI – pg 21 Diamond Z – pg 10 Ecoverse – pg 23 Edge Innovate – pg 11 HogZilla – pg 16 Komptech Americas – insert Peterson – pg 27 Premier Tech Chronos – pg 17 Rawlings – pg 3 Rotochopper Inc – pg 18 Vermeer – pg 5 West Salem Machinery – pg 28

load measuring systems Loadscan – pg 9

Mulch Coloring Equipment/ Colorants AgriCoatings – pg 2 Britton Industries – pg 12 CMC – pg 19 Florida Coastal Colors – pg 22 Greenwood Farms – pg 6

Trommel Brushes Duff Brush – pg 16

truck measurement & ticketing systems Walz Scale – pg 14

wear parts ArmorHog – pg 16 Grinder Wear Parts – pg 15

Is a Composting Business Right for You?

By Ken McEntee

n theory, expanding a mulch producing operation into compost production sounds like an ideal way to add an additional revenue stream. Unfortunately, say some people in the mulch business, the complications of permitting and the expense of purchasing composting equipment often can make compost production more trouble than it’s worth. Others, however, say that restricting feedstock to yard waste and landscaping debris, and working in a market with a strong demand for compost, can make the expansion lucrative. “I’ve seen a handful of mulching operations get into composting over the last few years, but it’s usually a way to get rid of the fines from their grinding operation,” said grinding expert Dave “The Grinder Guy” Whitelaw, who hosts a website called “Ask the Grinder Guy”. “Composting is not always the best business to get into, because compared to mulch, you’re not going to get the same return. When you grind a tree and sell it for mulch you’re using the whole tree - 100 percent of the

material. But if you spend the time to compost it, it composts down to 50 percent of what it used to be and you may end up selling it for less than what you’re getting for your mulch. On the other hand, what happens at mulching facilities is you want to screen the fines of the mulch before you color it to save money on the colorant and on the weight of hauling. Then you have to do something with the fines. So some people will get into composting just because of that.” The availability of carbon-rich wood could make a grinding operation a natural venue to get involved in food waste composting – a business that is likely to grow in the short term as more states consider banning food scraps from landfills. “With food waste you need to be sure you have enough carbon bulking agents,” said Kevin Tritz, owner of Specialized Environmental Technologies (SET), which operates The Mulch Store, a compost producer with four locations in the Minneapolis area. “If you have a mulching operation you Continued on page 3

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Soil & Mulch Producer News November / December 2017

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PUBLICATION STAFF

Continued from page 1

probably already have access to sawdust or wood chips to use as a bulking agent.” The feasibility of such an operation, Whitelaw said, can depend on the costs of buying composting equipment and the possible need for composting permits. “For a small amount of material, your front-end loader may be sufficient to turn compost piles, saving the expense of buying a windrow turner, for example,” he said.

Keep it simple

ost sources contacted for this article agree that restricting compost production to yard and landscaping materials would be less costly and complicated than getting involved with processing other organics, like food waste or biosolids. “Getting involved in organics processing throws you into a whole new category and requires more permits and state inspections and things like that,” said Tritz. “In most states you need to process organics on impermeable pads and you need to manage your runoff and meet certain criteria for temperature for reduction of pathogens. There are a lot of records you need to keep. Each state is different so you have to check out your permitting requirements. So composting is a lot more sophisticated than making mulch.” That, Whitelaw said, is why mulching operations that are considering an expansion into composting, would be wise to “keep it simple and stick to yard waste.” “If your goal is to get rid of your fines and make a little money in the process, then you should be able to do that without a lot of complication,” he said. “You might want to let the material compost in piles, but it’s going to take some time. When you’re grinding up a tree, there isn’t any nitrogen there for the composting process. After a period of time, you may have a good soil amendment to sell, but is it technically compost? Maybe it depends on what state you’re in. There are a lot of different things that people say are compost around the country, and most of them aren’t really compost. Just because it sits in a pile for a year doesn’t make it compost.” Amerigrow Recycling, a mulch producer in Delray Beach, Fla, makes a compost type of product with static piles. “We make a nice back-end, black dirt product called Eco-Soil that takes 18 to 24 months by static windrow composting,” said Dave Tomlinson, vice president of operations for the Amerigrow. “We’re not doing the active

Mulch Producer NEWS

windrows and taking time and temperature and testing and all that. If you brought a compost expert in here they would say, ‘No, no, no. You’re not doing it right.’ But there are a lot of people who want to buy it because they know it’s a high quality product. And if we called it compost we would have to send reports in to the water management district and all of that stuff.” In contrast to a mulch producer considering expanding to composting, Amerigrow went in the opposite direction. The site was loaded with yard waste it accepted – along with tipping fees – for years before the present ownership bought the “landscape dump” in 1995. “There was a lot of crap piled up,” Tomlinson said. “We came in and started to grind it and compost it, but eventually focused on building up the mulching side of things. Once that started to take off we went from bulk mulch to bagged mulch to blower mulch.” Later, the company expanded into commercial soils. Continued on page 4

Publisher / Editor Rick Downing Contributing Editors / Writers H. Sterling Burnett • Ken McEntee Sandy Woodthorpe Production & Layout Barb Fontanelle • Christine Mantush Advertising Sales Rick Downing Subscription / Circulation Donna Downing Editorial, Circulation & Advertising Office 6075 Hopkins Road, Mentor, OH 44060 Ph: 440-257-6453 • Fax: 440-257-6459 Email: downassoc2@oh.rr.com Subscription information, call 440-257-6453. Soil & Mulch Producer News is published bimonthly by Downing & Associates. Reproductions or transmission in whole or in part, without written permission of the publisher, is prohibited. Annual subscription rate U.S. is $19.95. Outside of the U.S. add $10.00 ($29.95). Contact our main office, or mail-in the subscription form with payment. ©

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Is a Composting Business Right for You? Continued from page 3

“It wouldn’t make sense for us to do active windrow composting,” Tomlinson said. “Out of our $17 million in annual revenue, composting generates maybe $500,000. Ninety percent of our commercial soils clients do not have compost in their commercial mixes. If I were to do an active windrow, I would require twice as much room for probably the same amount of revenue.” Amerigrow produces more than 300,000 yards of mulch annually, Tomlinson said.

Location is a key

ocation, he said, is a main factor in the decision to produce compost. “Florida is not the greatest compost market because you can plant a tree in the sand down here and if it gets water and nutrients it’s going to grow,” he said. “But if you’re in Georgia or North Carolina, you can’t just plant a tree in the clay soil. You need to use some sort of soil amendment.” If you’re in a location with good demand for soil blends, composting can be a sound investment, Whitelaw said. “If you already have the customer base, it’s an add in,” he said. “But you don’t get

the high return from just compost. If you get involved in mixing or making a soil blend or a potting soil, that’s when you’re going to get your higher return. But you have to make an investment to get that return. You don’t necessarily need a windrow turner for yard waste composting because that material stays fairly loose. But sludge or food waste, because it is so high in moisture, it chokes off the air in a windrow, so you’re going to need to invest in a windrow turner if you’re going to process sludge or food waste.” Developing a market for compost, Tritz says, can take time and patience. “When we first started we could hardly give the stuff away,” he said, “Today we produce 100,000 tons a year and have a variety of products, like erosion control products. Over the years people need to be educated how to use the material.” Location also will determine what regulatory hoops a new composting operation may need to navigate. “One of the biggest challenges is basically where you are located,” Tritz said. “Every state has its own permit requirements. There are not as many permit requirements on mulches as

there are on compost, so the first thing, before you get into composting, is you have to check on your level of requirements.” According to Frank Franciosi, executive director of the U.S. Composting Council (USCC), “Composters have totally different permitting compared to mulch producers. A lot of the chip and grind operations, depending on the state they are in, are permit by rule and they basically stay under the radar. Once you start bringing in feedstock’s other than land clearing debris and yard waste you start to get into permitted facilities and you may need an engineering firm, and you need to worry about stormwater management and odor management.” Like Amerigrow, SET started as a composting operation and added mulch to its product line later, although the company doesn’t grind its own mulch.

Do it right

ritz, a former president of the USCC, said anybody who wants to get into the composting business should learn to do it properly. Continued on page 7

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Is a Composting Business Right for You? Continued from page 4

“There are several different opportunities out there in the composting industry where there are training sessions to actually learn to do it the right way,” he said. “If you don’t do it right you can run into some huge problems with odor which shuts you down really fast. Many people have gone out of business simply because of problems with their neighbors. We go through great strides to make sure we don’t run into that odor problem, meaning mixing the material right and getting it mixed right away and watching our piles and making sure we have the right carbon to nitrogen ratio.” A good first step when expanding into composting, said Frank Franciosi, executive director of the USCC, is to take one of the council’s Compost Operator Training Courses. Weeklong courses in 2018 are scheduled in Davis, Calif., East Lansing, Mich. and Raleigh, N.C. “A big part of composting is understanding the biology; not having it too wet or too dry and understanding how to balance things out,” Franciosi said. “It’s an art and a science, and at the same time a lot of it is trial and error. If you spend the $650 to $700 to take the course you’re going to get your money back because you’re going to avoid a lot of mistakes and some of the problems down the road.” Some states, Franciosi said, offer a demonstration permit, through which composters can experiment with various feedstock. “A lot of times, expanding from yard waste into food waste or other organics might be biting off more than you can chew,” he said. “But with a demonstration permit, maybe I am processing yard waste, and a grocery store approaches me with some produce waste. I can set up a trial under a demonstration permit to see how it works out. With compost, you can get a good dollar back if your product is good and consistent. If it isn’t, then you’re going to give it away.” Bombaci Mulch, of Essex, Conn., is a small husband and wide mulch operation that has made the expansion into composting. The company started grinding in 1991 and expanded into compost about 10 years ago and now sells about 500 yards per year. “It’s mostly leaves that we put in a windrow and turn with an excavator,” Kenn Bombaci said. “We sell it for $30 a yard.” Bombaci and his wife, Martha, started by dumping leaves delivered by landscaping contractors in a field. “We turned it over one day and said, ‘Wow, this is good stuff,” Bombaci said. “We do it on a farm so we don’t need a permit. It has been a good move. I wish I could sell more,

then I could make more. It has been slow to catch on.” Along with the excavator, which they already had, the Bombacis purchased a screener, which they now use to screen compost and topsoil. “I started looking into food waste, but that is a whole other deal,” he said. “You have to go pick it up and look into permits. It’s a whole new investment and the government gets

involved. It seemed like a real ordeal. With leaves there is no smell or rodents or animals. I don’t have to pick it up.” Compared to the 500 yards of compost the company sells annually, it sells about 7,000 yards of mulch, which they process with a tub grinder. Ken McEntee is editor and publisher of Composting News (www.compostingnews.com).

http://www.amadas.com Soil & Mulch Producer News November / December 2017

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EPA Sue-and-Settle Agreements Ending By H. Sterling Burnett

overty remains, by far, the biggest killer of humans, and government-imposed regulations have been proven to create economic costs that make poverty more likely. As a result, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget estimates every $7.5 million to $12 million in regulatory costs imposed on the economy results in a life lost. Federal and state government regulatory costs top $1.9 trillion annually, amounting to $14,842 per U.S. household. That’s nearly $15,000 that’s unavailable to families to pay for health insurance, medicine or medical bills, college expenses, groceries, a new car, or vacations. These facts clearly show why substantive and formal transparency is critical when developing and imposing regulations. Regulations should be built on unimpeachable science. To best ensure that occurs, government agencies should disclose all the science, models, and information exchanges used to make agency decisions, and no agency should be allowed to use any report to support or justify a rule if the research is not open to verification by outside parties. Additionally, every government research contract should require recipients to make available all assumptions, models, data, and email exchanges related to the contracted research upon receiving a Freedom of Information Act request or a request by a congressional committee that has proper oversight. Increasing transparency in the research processes used to justify regulations is not enough. There must also be transparent processes for establishing new rules forced on the public by regulatory agencies. Existing laws already require transparency in the normal rulemaking process. For instance, regulatory agencies must reach out to stakeholders,

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including state governments likely to be affected by proposed rules, for input concerning the need for a rule and what form it should take. Laws or internal agency rules also typically require public hearings and a public notice period while regulations are being drafted and, once drafted, before they are finalized. However, under the previous administration, rather than following this legally required transparency process, bureaucrats worked behind the scenes to collude with lobbyists from radical environmental groups to impose costly policies outside of the normal rulemaking process and expand the coffers of environmental groups using “sue-and-settle.” Sue-and-settle is a strategy used most often by environmental specialinterest groups. The groups sue a federal agency, demanding the agency issue rules by a specific deadline, and the group and agency then enter into a private settlement that becomes legally binding for the agency. These agreements allow rules to be created without agencies having to go through the normal rulemaking channels, and there are no public comment periods. According to a May 2013 study by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, “between 2009 and 2012, [the Environmental Protection Agency] chose not to defend itself in over 60 lawsuits from special interest advocacy groups. … these cases resulted in settlement agreements and EPA publishing more than 100 new regulations.” An August 2015 report by U.S. Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee detailed numerous instances in which government regulators agreed to settlements with environmental groups that imposed costly restrictions, some of which had been previously rejected by Congress. Thankfully, under Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt, sue-and-settle agreements at EPA are ending. “The days of regulation through litigation are over,” Pruitt said in an October 2016 statement announcing the demise of sue-and-settle. “We will no longer go behind closed doors and use consent decrees and settlement agreements to resolve lawsuits filed … by special interest groups where doing so would circumvent the regulatory process set forth by Congress,” Pruitt added. “Oftentimes, these agreements are reached with little to no public input or transparency,” said EPA’s statement announcing the policy change. “That is regulation through litigation, and it is inconsistent with the authority that Congress has granted and the responsibility to operate in an open and fair manner.” EPA’s new policy requires it to notify states within 15 days of receiving a notice of intent to sue the agency. The agency must also provide a public comment period for any settlement or consent decree under consideration by the agency. Other new provisions instituted by EPA include the agency publishing an online searchable database of consent decrees and settlement agreements, including the terms of each agreement and relevant information about associated attorney’s fees and costs paid. The new policy also prohibits EPA from entering into consent decrees containing terms courts lack the authority to order. Further, EPA cannot consent to any agreement that converts a discretionary action into a mandatory duty, and EPA will no longer pay attorney’s fees or court costs for those suing the agency as part of the terms of settling a lawsuit. EPA’s sue-and-settle policy should be adopted by all federal agencies, a move that would significantly improve government transparency and slow the gravy train interest groups enjoyed under the Obama administration. H. Sterling Burnett, Ph.D. is managing editor of Environment & Climate News. This article was originally published at Townhall and reprinted with permission from www.heartland.org.

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Gro-Bark invests in accuracy and reliability. Gro-Bark, a supplier of sustainably sourced bulk soils and mulches, purchased three block-mounted Load Volume Scanner (LVS) systems for use at their sites in Bancroft and Georgetown, Toronto.

“We ship more than a few hundred thousand cubic yards of material each year from seven different production facilities. We wanted to make sure of accuracy of information on outbound loads.

Gro-Bark purchased the LVS systems to accurately account for product brought in for inventory from outside suppliers and to check trucks are being loaded with the correct amount of product ordered by customers.

The biggest surprise was seeing the measurement of the materials coming onto our sites. We bring materials to our sites from more than 25 different supplier sites.

The LVS system utilizes laser scanning and radio-frequency identification technologies combined with software that creates 3D model images of trucks to measure the exact volume of the material loaded in a truck or trailer bin. Loadscan Ltd Director Carey West, is pleased to report the feedback has been totally favourable. Bill McKague, Manager of Gro-Bark says that there’s no doubt the Loadscan scanner supplies valuable information and is a very easy tool to use. “First and foremost we are very happy that both the scanners we purchased have worked without a glitch since day one. It is always a risk buying equipment half way around the world because one would have a concern about reliability and service. We have been 100 per cent satisfied on both counts.” Gro-bark also purchased a MyScanner remote access service from Loadscan, a secure web portal allowing remote access to their scanner and real-time presentation of scan data with access to support from anywhere in the world. Gro-Bark use the Myscanner API to load the data from the LVS straight into their management software to create invoices without someone having to manually enter the data. He explains Gro-Bark’s primary objective in this purchase decision was to get the most accurate information for invoicing customers for mulch and soil shipments.

We understand that there is settlement in a load of bark that travels to our site, sometimes over a distance of more than 400 kilometres, but the settlement in the load should be consistent from load to load. With the Loadscan scanner we have been able to identify the best value for incoming loads. When load weights are not an issue we want to make sure we are maximizing the volumes. Loadscan enables exactly that.” The Loadscan LVS scanner systems are available in portable, semi-portable and fixed gantry models to best suit the customer’s application. The range of measurable load materials and truck types has been extended. LVS devices are successfully operated on a full spectrum of truck and trailer designs including on-road truck and trailers, semi-trailers and centre-dumpers, as well as off-road articulated dumpers and quarry trucks. If you want a comprehensive volumetric payload measurement system for your bulk facility, get in contact with the team at Loadscan today. Further information is available from Loadscan Ltd., on 1-800-747-2973, email sales@loadscan.com or by visiting the company’s website www.loadscan.com. R

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Hurricane Irma Leaves Florida With Mountains of Wood Waste By P.J. Heller

assive amounts of wood waste generated by Hurricane Irma in Florida — from trees and branches to damaged or destroyed homes, buildings and other structures — is continuing to make its way to landfills and waste-to-energy plants throughout the Sunshine State months after the storm ravaged much of southwest Florida. Only a small amount of the felled oak, mahogany, ficus and other hardwoods is being used for mulch, and an even smaller percentage appears to be usable to be turned into a salable product by commercial mulch manufacturers. Much of the wood waste being collected is comingled with other materials, so it is unsuitable for commercial mulch manufacturers, according to industry officials. “Even the straight yard waste . . . most of that material is going to a landfill because there is just no place to get rid of the sheer volume of material,” noted Dave Whitelaw, a Tampa, Fla.-based businessman who sells new and used grinders. After devastating several Caribbean islands, Irma struck in the U.S. on Sept. 10 as a Category 4 hurricane. It first made landfall in the Florida Keys, then churned up Florida’s west coast, causing billions of dollars in damages. It was the strongest Atlantic basin hurricane ever recorded outside the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea and the

first major hurricane to make landfall in Florida since Wilma in 2005. Unlike the regular curbside yard waste collection that most residents are used to, cities and counties contract with disaster debris management firms to clean up the storm debris, including wood and yard waste. That cleanup effort was slowed because many of the companies were working in the Houston area cleaning up from Hurricane Harvey, which struck there Aug. 26 with winds of 130 mph. “The debris removal program was unexpectedly prolonged due to resources being limited by Hurricane Harvey in Texas and the widespread impact of Irma in Florida,” noted St. Johns County officials in a message to residents explaining the slow cleanup effort. “Additional resources are being enlisted when possible and all storm debris is projected to be removed by December.” “The majority of the disaster contractors were already set up and running in the Houston area so there was nowhere near enough people to handle the counties here in Florida,” Whitelaw added. The scramble for those crews sent prices soaring, with some areas in South Florida paying nearly three times the going rate for storm cleanup, according to several people. “There’s nowhere near enough people needed,” Whitelaw said of Continued on page 12

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Hurricane Irma Leaves Florida With Mountains of Wood Waste Continued from page 11

the Florida cleanup. “And they (disaster debris management companies) are still cleaning up south of Houston. Those people are still over there. It’s not like they finished there and came over here. They’re still there.” The amount of debris generated by Irma was overwhelming. In the city of Sarasota, 60,000 cubic yards of storm waste that was collected in two months was equal to the amount that public works crews would typically collect in two years. Sarasota County has collected more than 250,000 cubic yards of debris. In Collier County, there was an estimated 4 million cubic yards of debris, with 330,000 cubic yards within the City of Naples alone. That quantity was four times the amount of debris from Hurricane Wilma in 2005. County officials said its contractor, AshBritt Environmental, set up large grinders on its collection sites to process vegetative debris into mulch. The mulch will be taken out of county to be reused for soil stabilization in agricultural areas, they said. Polk County officials estimated the debris from Irma would be more than 2 million cubic yards, which was as much as all of the hurricanes in 2004. That material was destined for landfills. St. Johns County said it had collected 622,827 cubic yards of material as of Nov. 21 with more than 27,000 cubic yards still to be picked up. Like other counties, Brevard County was running its cleanup operations from sun-up to sun-down. As of Nov. 17, it reported it

www.brittonindustries.com 12 Soil & Mulch Producer News November / December 2017

had 29 trucks collecting vegetative debris from Irma operating in the unincorporated areas as well as in municipalities that were part of the interlocal agreement. Cleanup efforts were running seven days a week, some areas reported. MW Horticulture Recycling Facility in Lee County reported that in the first nine days after Irma it had collected about two months worth of vegetation at its Fort Myers facility. The company, which produces mulch, compost and top soil, was allowed by the state to expand its operations by four acres to handle the inflow. The disaster debris management companies set up sites to manage storm-generated debris. The permitting, inspection and coordination of those sites is overseen by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The agency must approve debris staging areas in order for the owner/operator of the staging areas to receive public assistance funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. “Some disaster debris management sites serve solely as temporary storage areas for debris until it can be taken to a disposal site, such as a landfill or permitted waste-to-energy facility,” explained Sarah Shellabarger, a DEP spokesperson. “Whether or not a waste-to-energy facility can accept storm-generated debris depends on if they are operating at capacity, as defined by their permit. Most of these facilities are authorized to burn municipal solid waste such as wood pallets, clean wood and land clearing debris.” Continued on page 15

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Hurricane Irma Leaves Florida With Mountains of Wood Waste Continued from page 12

Whitelaw said counties which have waste-to-energy plants “are getting as much material as they can take. The rest of it is going to the landfill because there’s just no place for it.” Florida operates 11 waste-to-energy facilities that can handle 20,114 tons of trash per day. “Other disaster debris management sites may directly manage the debris by chipping, grinding or burning,” Shellabarger said. “Another option for debris disposal — clean woody biomass such as tree limbs and trunks — is mulching.” Keith Howard, director of the Lee County Solid Waste Division, said most, if not all, of the mulch being produced by its contractor, Crowder Gulf, will be used for agricultural purposes or as compost feedstock. “The material being mulched is all vegetative debris and may include limbs, trunks, etc,’ Howard said. “Materials are managed on temporary debris staging sites located throughout the county. Once the cleanup effort is complete, these sites will be returned to their former state. Most sites are available vacant land for managing only vegetative debris. Construction and demolition debris is being hauled directly for landfill disposal.” As of Nov. 21, the county had collected 1,447,169 cubic yards of vegetation and 34, 192 cubic yards of construction and demolition material. In Orange, Seminole and Lake counties, some debris ground into mulch will sent to landfills where it will be mixed with soil to be used as a ground cover over the garbage. Residents of Lake County could also haul away as much mulch as they desired. “Understand, it’s not store quality,” Mary Hamilton, Lake’s environmental services manager told the Orlando Sentinel. “You probably wouldn’t want it in your front flower beds.” The city of Orlando was reselling its mulch for landscaping. “Picking up and removing the debris is only half the job,” Apopka Mayor Joe Kilsheimer told the Sentinel. “Disposing of it is an additional challenge and cost.” Whitelaw agreed. “Anybody that wants the wood can have as much as they would like,” he said.

Soil

Mulch Producer NEWS

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Innovative Food Waste Recycling Facility Opens in Newark, NJ

ewark, NJ – Industrial/Organic has secured $1.3 million in venture capital backing to establish state-of-the-art indoor composting stations in Newark and New York City, reports OrganicAuthority.com. According to the company’s website, the new composting process is based on fermentation. Bacteria is added to the food waste to digest the sugars. Next, the bacteria excrete organic acids, which lower the pH in the processing vessels, essentially sterilizing them. The fermentation method takes less time and does not produce offensive odors frequently associated with composting. Industrial/Organic says the week-long process converts the food waste to high-value resources that can be further upcycled into liquid and solid fertilizers, animal feed, organic chemicals, or clean energy. With the closure of a Delaware composting facility, New York City needed a way to stay on track with its food waste recycling goals. Startup, Industrial/Organic, looks like the answer to that dilemma.

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Soil & Mulch Producer News November / December 2017 15

EQUIPMENT PRODUCT SHOWCASE

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Pilot Composting Program Yields 750,000 Pounds of Food and Floral Scraps

etoskey, MI – Emmet County residents and businesses have contributed to the success of a pilot commercial composting program started just two years ago, reports PetoskeyNews.com. In 2015, the program started with 16 customers and collected 90,000 pounds of food and floral scraps. There was no charge for the service in the first year. In 2016, the program added a $7 per-cart-per-tip fee and a discount for customers with multiple carts. The program increased to 21 customers, and collected 287,000 pounds. Petoskey and Harbor Bluffs participants range from commercial food makers, restaurants and grocery stores to schools, medical and hospitals, floral shops and a country club. The compost, which is used by the county in landscaping applications, will be offered for sale starting next year.

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GRIND COLOR SOLUTIONS

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320-548-3586 www.rotochopper.com 18 Soil & Mulch Producer News November / December 2017

Soil

Golfers and Others are Teed about Omaha Compost Facility

shland, NE – A Nebraska composting facility wants to increase its processing capacity, but is facing opposition from residents and business owners who are upset about odors, according to an Omaha.com article. The composter, Soil Dynamics, combines yard waste, zoo waste and a small amount of food waste at a facility located in a former rock quarry. Under its current permit with Cass County, the company is allowed to take in 20,000 cubic yards of yard waste and 1,000 cubic yards of food waste. Last summer, the company submitted a proposal to the county planning commission to process up to 130,000 cubic yards of yard waste and 150,000 cubic yards of food waste a year. Critics of the plan expressed concern that such a major increase will result in odors and noise from equipment and trucks, as well as impact tourism at several attractions and a state park. Soil Dynamics, which runs a waste disposal service, projects volume to increase with the closing of the area’s landfill, in addition to more restaurants expressing interest in food waste recycling. The golf course has opposed Soil Dynamics at every step, and in a 2015 letter to Gov. Pete Ricketts, accused the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality of a conflict of interest because it was regulating a firm to which it also had awarded a recycling grant.

Mulch Producer NEWS

House Passes Pearce Amendment to Lift Rules on Logging in NM Forests

ashington, D.C. – If signed into law, the Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2017 will allow forest thinning, logging, watershed improvement and habitat restoration projects in three New Mexico national parks to move forward without lengthy reviews, reports NMPoliticalReport.com. This year’s wildfire season has been devastating to New Mexico, destroying 8,000 homes and costing nearly $3 billion dollars in fire suppression efforts. New Mexico Rep. Steve Pearce introduced an amendment to H.R. 2936 that aims at reducing fire risk in three national forests, the Lincoln, Cibola, and Gila. The Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2017 has “strong support” from nearly 100 groups, including the New Mexico Coalition of Conservation Districts and the New Mexico Forest Industry Association, according to a statement issued by Pearce’s office. Critics have stated they think Pearce’s amendment is structured to help forestry businesses in his Congressional district. In New Mexico, forest thinning contracts are often short-term, and the volume of wood harvested is low, they contend. A pilot program established by the bill would apply to three parks and not to any other forests in the state. The program would eliminate reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Endangered Species Act and require the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to perform expedited endangered species consultation within a 90-day period. Reviews not meeting the deadline would have to stop, and the U.S. Forest Service could automatically proceed with forestry projects. The amendment does, however, allow counties to pull the plug if they object to federal forestry plans. Critics also have taken issue with funding for fire suppression, which comes out of the U.S. Forest Service regular budget. They say this is siphoning money away from restoration, forest thinning projects and other programs.

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Soil

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olland, MI – A small, entrepreneurial company based in Holland, Michigan is speeding up its composting process by mixing yard and food waste, reports MichiganLive.com In November, Cocoa Corp. entered its innovative process in a competition held in Silicon Valley, California at the 2017 Global Technology Symposium (GTS). The process involves grinding and blending yard waste collected from Holland-area residents and food waste from commercial processors. Once the organics are reduced, they are placed in windrows and aerated using a tractor-drawn agitator. The windrows are then covered with black plastic to prevent runoff. In 10-12 weeks, the result is a certified soil amendment that Cocoa sells to farmers for about $35 a ton. The company has plans to collect another unusual compost ingredient – seaweed and zebra mussels that accumulate in the cooling intakes at a power plant located on Lake Michigan. Last September, Cocoa put in a bid to operate a composting facility for the city of Ann Arbor, but was turned down. The selection committee voted in favor of an out-of-state company that has held the contract for five years.

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ashington, D.C. – Keith Hall, President and CEO of the National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE), the nation’s leading advocate and resource for the self-employed and micro-businesses, issued the following statement in reaction to the recent release of the House GOP tax proposal: “The most precious resource for America’s small business community is their time – time to operate, time to save, time to grow, and time to create more new jobs. Any tax reform proposal that seeks to promote a more simplified and efficient tax code will ultimately save small businesses time and money, and create the economic growth that only small business can sustain. “The House GOP tax proposal is a great step in simplifying the burden of overall tax compliance. Reducing the number of tax brackets from 7 down to 4, reducing the number of itemized deductions while increasing the standard amount, and eliminating the alternative minimum tax and the estate tax will all provide significantly easier tax returns and easier tax planning for small business owners. “The reduction of overall tax rates, including the tax on small business income and the aggressive expensing of new business equipment, can provide needed capital for small businesses to expand their operations and create even more needed jobs for our communities. “These proposed changes to the tax code would have a significant impact on the over 27 million self-employed and micro-business owners who file their returns as individuals. It is important that we continue to work towards creating equity between corporations and small businesses. During this long process of producing a final tax reform package, we look forward to working with both Congress and the Trump Administration in sharing our views on how to create a plan that both ensures parity and saves time for the American small business community.”

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Soil

Clover and Corn Mulch Benefits Soil and Farming Business

thens, GA – Scientists at the University of Georgia who have been interplanting perennial white clover in cornfields say the combination is both efficient and sustainable, reports ScienceDaily.com. Getting the clover to reestablish from season to season was challenging, but the scientists experimented with different row sizes and effective use of herbicide and had success. Best results were achieved by spraying herbicide in 8-inch wide bands. The ideal crop row width was 36 inches wide. This spacing helped the corn get established and prevented it from being crowded by the clover. Then, shaded by the corn, the legume’s leaves dropped to the soil while its roots continued releasing nitrogen. According to the scientists, the effect is like a time-release capsule of natural fertilizer. Furthermore, the ideal combination of conditions prevents the clover from outcompeting the corn but doesn’t do so much damage that when the corn is gone the clover can’t take over the field after the growing season. The researchers’ goal was to get up to 100 percent clover cover, and they were able to achieve that. The researchers found the living mulch system does produce a little less corn than more conventional systems. The cost savings from the system, however, outweigh the lower production. The test fields needed 75-80 percent less herbicide, thanks to the clover outcompeting harmful weeds and the reduced need for applied fertilizer also saved money.

Mulch Producer NEWS

Combatting Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria with Composting

anjing, China – Composting and stronger regulations could be two effective weapons against antibiotic resistance, according to a Chinese study published in the European Journal of Soil Science. Scientists at the Nanjing Agricultural University who reviewed recent research have found links between veterinary antibiotic use and soil that receives manure or manure composts. Spreading manure on farmland is contributing to increased antibiotic resistance in the soil, they warn. Livestock manure typically contains antibiotics that were not fully absorbed by the animals, as well as bacteria that passes from the animals’ intestines. Research findings show that dosing animals with antibiotics encourages bacteria in the gut to become genetically resistant to antibiotics. When the pharmaceutical residue and antibiotic resistant genetic material ends up in soil, the soil effectively becomes dosed and a similar pattern occurs – human pathogens in the soil become virulent. The Chinese scientists propose two solutions to this risky scenario – composting manure to kill as many antibiotic resistant organisms as possible and enacting more stringent regulations to reduce use of veterinary antibiotics. Thermophilic composting could degrade between 50 and 99 percent of some antibiotics, such as tetracyclines, in the manure, they wrote. Certain antibiotics such as sulphamethazine, ofloxacin and ciprofloxacin, however, do not break down as well. Large concentrations can remain in the composted products. Meanwhile, at Canada’s Université de Montréal, scientists are studying ways to prevent the transfer of antibiotic resistant genes. Their research is aimed at ways to preserve the potency of antibiotics, they say.

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Soil & Mulch Producer News November / December 2017 23

Product/Equipment Profiles

Bandit Industries Announces Model ZT1844 Compact Track Stump Grinder

andit Industries recently introduced its new Model ZT1844 stump grinder, which it says is one of the most productive compact, track-mounted stump grinders on the market. “The ZT1844 is designed from the ground up to outperform all other stump grinders in its class,” said Bandit Sales Manager Jason Morey. “The wider swing arc covers more area when grinding at the stump. The taller grinding height and deeper grinding depth means you can tackle larger stumps and chase the roots deeper into the ground. And intuitive controls make grinding stumps easy.” The Model ZT1844 is equipped with an 18” diameter Bandit cutterwheel featuring Green Teeth. Electronic engagement means it’s as simple as flipping a switch to engage the cutterwheel. And the rubber track undercarriage means this machine can travel through uneven and rough terrain while still taking it easy on delicate lawns. “We have two engine options available on the ZT1844,” Morey said. “Customers can get a standard 26 horsepower Kohler gasoline engine, or opt for a 38 horsepower Kohler engine.” Learn more about the Model ZT1844 or see it run by visiting www.banditchippers.com or contact your nearest authorized Bandit dealer and schedule a demonstration.

CBI Introduces AirMax Material Separator

he CBI AirMax Material Separator is one of CBI’s newest and most promising material management solutions. Developed as an efficient alternative to water tanks, the AirMax was designed for separating heavy materials such as aggregates, metals, glass, and more from lighter materials. Ideal for separating rock from wood and plastic, C&D recycling, glass recycling, mulch cleanup, compost cleanup, automotive fluff recycling, and a variety of other applications. It does everything a standard air knife does, but does it in a self-contained, self-filtering package, so you don’t have any dust or air control issues. The AirMax is a clean, quiet, and precise solution for recycling centers who want to get the most out of raw waste. End users can use recycled wood for in-house mulch operations, or separated rock for fill or other applications. The AirMax is designed to run smooth with zero vibration, while at the same time meticulously separating material for a quality end product. Adjustable feed and air flow allows users to calibrate the machine for various applications and levels-of-separation. For more information please contact Terex CBI Ecotec at 603-382-0556, joe.gallagher@terex.com or visit www.terex.com.

CMC Introduces Large Batch Double Planetary Mixer

ustom Milling & Consulting, Inc. expanded its equipment line to include large volume production size double planetary mixers. Because the demand for processing equipment, that can handle high viscosity materials in large batch sizes, continues to grow, CMC’s team of experts recently engineered a whole new line of mixers and ram presses to meet this demand. The first of these machines to be completed is the DPM-700 explosion-proof, vacuum capable, all stainless, double planetary mixer, fitted with twisted gate blades. Every mixer is equipped with precision machined tanks, which allows for very close clearances between the blades. The result is a high rate of shear that occurs as each blade rotates on its own access while orbiting around the tank. The combination of close tolerances along with the coverage created by the orbiting of the rotating blades, will quickly yield high quality mixes and dispersions. CMC’s DPM-700 is able to process batch sizes that range from 140 to over 600 Liters. It can be customized to include a variety of features from PLC controls, jacketed tanks, straight gate blades, side walls scarpers, vacuum capabilities and much more. For more information please visit www.cmcmilling.com or contact us at sales@cmcmilling.com.

24 Soil & Mulch Producer News November / December 2017

Product/Equipment Profiles

Rotochopper Introduces RotoLink 2nd Generation Remote Monitoring System

otochopper’s 2017 Demo Day featured the introduction of the RotoLink 2nd generation remote monitoring system, with live connection to the grinder controller and Rotochopper customer service technicians. Work in real-time with Rotochopper customer support to view machine settings and troubleshoot issues. Using RotoLink, multiple users can work together through live connection on smartphones or computers to monitor and adjust critical machine settings from anywhere in the world. Monitoring capabilities include maintenance life, vibration and bearing temperatures, engine data and production data. When granted access, factory service techs have a direct connection to the display and with permission can change machine settings. Operators set up email and/or text message alarms to alert multiple users immediately when a fault alarm occurs. Alarms can be customized by user depending on individual operational roles. RotoLink is available for both diesel and electric horizontal grinders. Use RotoLink remote monitoring system to troubleshoot and maximize machine performance. For more information contact Rotochopper at 320-548-3586 or visit www.rotochopper.com.

A Better Way to Process Organics

f you’re looking for a better way to process high volumes of organics (food waste, green waste, mixed waste with organics) and eliminate costly, maintenance prone portable machines, check out WSM’s stationary Organics Processing Systems. A complete high capacity system to process organics for conversion into compost, soil amendments, biogas, or biofuels. A typical system starts with WSM’s Chain Metering Bin with Loading Hopper for bulk loading and metered feed to the Severe-Duty Titan Trommel Screen for heavy fraction separation. WSM’s massive Titan Vertical and Horizontal feed electric Grinders allow you to get rid of costly diesel engines while processing materials at rates ranging from 50 to 500 cubic yards per hour. WSM’s Light Fraction Separator removes plastics and light fractions during processing. WSM is different and has a unique approach to processing your organics. With WSM’s focused approach you get more than just the machine – you get WSM’s unique combination of continuous product innovation, application experience, technical and testing services, with optional system integration and project management. To learn more, visit www.westsalem.com, email to info@westsalem.com, or call your WSM technical specialist at 800‑722‑3530.

EnRoot Products Ships First Ameri-Coco Bagged Coir

nRoot Products LLC, makers of high-quality coir products announces the release of Ameri-Coco ‘Ready-To-Grow’ bagged coir. Available in convenient 1.5 cu ft. bags, Ameri-Coco products come in three varieties to suit growers needs: Root Kandy is the perfect medium for high-value crops with ultra-low EC requirements, Root Kandy is 100% coco coir buffered with calcium nitrate for a resulting EC/salt content to below 200 PPM.; Brown Pearl is 100% coir with a 70/30 blend of perlite - a long-respected natural amendment - for added aeration and drainage; Colombo Jumbo is our standard, ‘tripleplus’ washed coir, used globally in commercial growing. Low EC, and now fluffed and ready-to-grow right out of the bag! EnRoot Products Ameri-Coco Bagged Products are commercial- and professional-grade hydroponic coco coir products. We offer crop-specific products designed to maximize your efforts in low-tech or high-tech growing environments. For more information contact Ameri-Coco at 203-509-0125 or info@ameri-coco.com or visit www.ameri-coco.com.

Soil & Mulch Producer News November / December 2017 25

Soil

Mulch Producer NEWS

ADVERTISER NEWS New Authorized Bandit Dealers Announced for Texas, Oklahoma and Florida

andit Industries recently announced Custom Truck and Equipment a Utility One Source company as an authorized Bandit dealer serving Texas and Oklahoma. Utility Source One will carry a full line of Bandit handfed chippers and stump grinders, as well as provide sales, service and support. Utility One Source will serve Bandit needs in three Texas locations– Midland, Fort Worth and Houston – and one location in Oklahoma City, OK. All Texas and Oklahoma locations will service hand-fed chippers and stump grinders. In addition to carrying Bandit’s lineup of small equipment, Utility One Source also carries a complete lineup of trucks and utility equipment from a variety of manufacturers. Bandit Industries also announced that Coastal Machinery Co., has joined Bandit’s growing network of dealers, serving Bandit customers in Florida’s panhandle and southern Alabama. The dealership will offer Bandit’s complete lineup of hand-fed chippers and stump grinders, including the new Intimidator® 15XPC and Intimidator 18XPC, as well as the new Model ZT1844 compact track stump grinder. “Coastal Machinery Co., is a full-service dealership, offering sales, parts and service,” said Bandit Sales Manager Jason Morey. “They are a known and respected dealer in their area and are an awesome addition to Bandit’s dealer network.”

Morbark Announces Acquisition of Rayco Manufacturing

orbark, LLC (Morbark) recently announced that it has completed the acquisition of Rayco Manufacturing, Inc. (Rayco) This transaction represents the first addition since affiliates of the private equity firm Stellex Capital Management LP (Stellex) acquired Morbark in 2016. The purchase of Rayco represents a significant move towards the Company’s strategic focus on broadening the range of tree care and industrial equipment, aftermarket parts, and service offered to their Customers. Rayco was founded in 1978 in Wooster, Ohio, by John M. Bowling, who as the owner of a tree care service identified the unique needs of the tree and landscape industry and began to build equipment to meet and surpass those needs. Today the company is dedicated to the design and production of an incredibly innovative line of environmental equipment. The current range of Rayco products includes: stump cutters, crawler trucks, forestry mulchers, multi-tool carriers, and attachments, brush chippers and the all-new AT71 aerial trimmer.

www.compostconference.com 26 Soil & Mulch Producer News November / December 2017

ALWAYS INNOVATING

AT PETERSON WE NEVER STOP DEVELOPING THE ULTIMATE INDUSTRY LEADING EQUIPMENT. For over 35 years, we’ve built our business around building the most productive mobile chipping and grinding machines in the industry. Day after day, we partner with our customers by giving them the best tools for the job and exceptional support when they need us.

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www.SoilandMulchProducerNews.com

6075 Hopkins Road • Mentor, OH 44060

PRSRT STD

Ph: 440-257-6453 • Fax: 440-257-6459 Email: downassoc2@oh.rr.com

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U.S. Postage

PAID

VOL. XI NO. 6 NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2017

Inside This Issue Is a Composting Business Right for You? PAGE 1 EPA Sue-and-Settle Agreements Ending PAGE 8 Hurricane Irma Leaves Florida With Mountains of Wood Waste PAGE 11 Pilot Composting Program Yields 750,000 Pounds of Food and Floral Scraps PAGE 16 House Passes Pearce Amendment to Lift Rules on Logging in NM Forests PAGE 19 House GOP Tax Bill a “Great Step” for Small Businesses and Self-Employed PAGE 20 Combatting Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria with Composting PAGE 23