Vol. XX No. 2
March /April 2026
Serving Soil, Mulch, Compost & Firewood Producers www.SoilandMulchProducerNews.com
NEWS
Attention Readers !
Are you looking for Products, Equipment or Services for your business? If so, check out these leading companies advertised inside:
AUTOMATIC FLOOR SYSTEMS Keith Manufacturing Co – pg 8 BAGGING / PALLETIZING EQUIPMENT Amadas Industries – pg 4 nVenia – pg 14 COMPOST TURNER Resource Machinery & Engineering – pg 10 CONE SCREW SPLITTERS U.S. Pride Products – pg 14 CONVEYORS & CONVEYOR PARTS Amadas Industries – pg 4 Smalis Conveyors – pg 3 EQUIPMENT SALES GrinderTrader.com – pg 13 GRINDERS, CHIPPERS & SCREENING SYSTEMS Amadas Industries – pg 4 Bandit – pg 9 Diamond Z – pg 11 HogZilla – pg 12 Jones Mfg/Mighty Giant – pg 6 Precision Husky – pg 19 Vermeer Corporation – pg 13 MULCH COLORING EQUIPMENT / COLORANTS AgriCoatings – pg 17 Amerimulch – pg 5 Colorbiotics – pg 2 Florida Coastal Colors – 15 T.H. Glennon Co – pg 20 MULCH SUPPLIERS Ohio Mulch – pg 10 PAYLOAD WEIGHING & MEASURING SYSTEMS Walz Scale – pg 7 TRAILERS Weaver Systems – pg 16 TROMMEL BRUSHES Power Brushes Inc – pg 13 WEAR PARTS ArmorHog – pg 16
Bagged Products Facing $$$ EPR Fees
BY P.J. HELLER
T
he mulch and soil industry could be facing huge fees – totaling in the millions of dollars – as states ramp up efforts to implement Extended Producer Responsibility laws which shift recycling costs away from local governments and taxpayers to the actual producers. Seven states – Oregon, Colorado, California, Maine, Minnesota, Maryland and Washington – have enacted comprehensive packaging EPR laws. More than a dozen other states are reported to be considering similar legislation. Product packaging is the latest area to come under EPR. “It will definitely affect the [mulch and soil] industry,” says Robert C. LaGasse, executive director of the Mulch & Soil Council. “We estimate it will probably be an 8- or 9-figure penalty to the industry.” EPR packaging laws are designed to improve the collection, sorting and recycling infrastructure for packaging waste. “Each year, Americans trash more than 80 million tons of packaging – primarily made from plastic, paper, glass, and metal, and less than 50 percent of it is recycled,” the Product Stewardship Institute says. “When it comes to plastic, the rate is less than 9 percent.” Other products previously addressed by EPR laws include electronics, mercury thermostats,
batteries, pharmaceuticals, paint, fluorescent lighting and mattresses, according to the National Council of State Legislators. California officials say EPR programs can “transition the state towards a circular economy by placing the responsibility for reducing waste, maximizing reuse and recycling, or other end‑of‑life management of products on producers.” Mulch and soil producers who sell bagged products, typically in linear low-density polyethylene bags, could fall under new EPR packaging laws. While those bags are tough and can resist punctures and heat and support the weight of the soil or mulch, they are difficult to reprocess. “In many cases, recyclers won’t recycle them because of the contamination of the soil or mulch that’s still in the package that clogs up their reprocessing systems,” LaGasse notes. “A lot of recyclers won’t collect our bags.” Mulch and soil producers have little choice but to use the polyethylene bags. “There’s no other practical solution,” LaGasse says. “We can’t use paper. No technology is currently available that would allow us to package it in a more recyclable manner.” Mulch and soil producers face a patchwork of state laws under EPR. Continued on page 3