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March / April 2014

Vol. VIII No. 2

Serving Soil, Mulch, Compost, & Biofuel Professionals www.SoilandMulchProducerNews.com

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Wood Pellet Production for European Energy Demands Threatens Southern US Forests

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By Todd Williams

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outhern US hardwood forests are facing growing devastation, brought on by the insatiable demand for so-called green energy by European biomass-powered energy plants.

Operating on the mistaken assumption that wood pellets are carbon neutral, European regulators are turning a blind eye to the massive takeover of American forests to provide feedstock for giant power plants that are switching from coal to wood-fired generators.

And increasingly wood pellets made from entire hardwood logs, as opposed to logging trash, pulp-grade pine, and treetops, are firing these massive boilers.

According to published statistics, the growing amount of European purchases of wood pellets from the US are led by the United Kingdom and to a lesser extent, Belgium, Netherlands, Sweden, Germany and Denmark.

An annual biofuels report for 2013, recently published by the European Union (EU), shows European wood pellet consumption grew from 4.606 metric tons in 2006 to 14.3 million metric tons in 2012. Nearly 16 million metric tons were burned in 2013 with a projection of 17.1 million metric tons this year. Projected EU consumption is expected to increase to 50-80 million metric tons per year by 2020.

Leading the European gluttony for wood pellets is the UK, a country with very limited wood resources, a thirsty demand for power, and under a EU mandate to cut carbon emissions.

In fact, experts believe that the UK alone will likely burn 200 million tons of pellets annually by 2017.

Spear heading the UK in wood pellet burning and the country’s largest source of carbon dioxide is the leviathan Drax Power

Station in North Yorkshire. Once its third boiler is soon converted from coal to biomass, this power plant alone will incinerate 6.5-7 million tons of pellets yearly, requiring 4,600 square miles of forest cutting per year, an area the size of Connecticut.

And although wood pellets shipped nearly 3,800 miles from Southeast US ports across the Atlantic to Europe are more expensive than UK-mined coal, the European consumer helps foot the bill by paying subsidies via levies on energy bills.

Drax Power itself is supplied by cargo ships carrying 26,000 tons of pellets per ship departing from US ports near Waycross and Brunswick, Georgia. The Drax plant alone this year will consume the equivalent of two-thirds of Europe’s entire biomass energy usage in 2010, according to Seth Ginther of the US Industrial Pellet Association.

Although in the foreseeable future the UK will continue to gobble up the bulk of wood pellets headed to Europe, the Netherlands plans to produce 9% of its power from biomass, or six million tons annually.

Belgium and Denmark are ramping up their own wood-burning generating facilities and Germany is studying the feasibility of replacing its nuclear reactors with biomass incinerators.

According to Scot Quaranta, campaign director for the Dogwood Alliance, a North Carolina-based forest advocacy group, the main issue driving Europe’s thirst for wood pellets are the EU’s two 2020 environmental goals: a 20% reduction in carbon emissions from 1990 levels and a 20% renewable energy production goal.

However, a broad alliance of US and international environmentalists are quick to note Continued on page 3

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PUBLICATION STAFF Publisher / Editor Rick Downing Contributing Editors / Writers P.J. Heller • Todd Williams • Sandy Woodthorpe Production & Layout Barb Fontanelle • Christine Pavelka

Wood Pellet Production for European Energy Demands Threatens Southern US Forests

Advertising Sales Rick Downing

Continued from page 1

scientific research indicates that burning wood for energy is not carbon neutral because cutting down hardwood for fuel removes large carbon sequesters in favor of replanting saplings which sequester very little carbon until they grow to full sized trees.

In fact, even Drax’s head of environment admits the mega utility’s wood-fueled furnaces actually produce 3% more CO2 than coal and well over twice as much as natural gas. This doesn’t even take into account the extra CO2 produced by manufacturing the pellets and transporting them across the ocean. Nigel Burnett admits that, with all these factors, using biomass to generate power produces 20% more greenhouse gas emissions than coal.

Still, as of today, the EU sees burning wood as a cornerstone of its new energy policy. But there are no mandatory sustainability criteria for biofuels. Nor does the EU specifically address the source of the pellets.

Thus the EU’s obvious answer to its growing energy conundrum lies across the Atlantic Ocean in North America, and specifically in the vast forests of the southeast US, say energy experts.

Published reports note that 36% of the 4.36 million tons of pellets burned last year in the EU were taken from US forests, which surpassed Canada by 2% as Europe’s primary wood resource.

According to Quaranta, for years Canada shipped more wood to Europe due to the fact that a massive beetle disease that decimated many forests hit our northern neighbor. These diseased trees were sent overseas for power plant fuel. As the Canadian wood sources were slowly depleted, the US became a major player in the wood-for-fuel business, with the southern states leading in exports.

Due to the mid 2000’s collapse of the construction market and the lackluster growth in the paper industry because of the downturn in newspaper publishing and paperless computer technology, Southern timberland owners have discovered a ready and willing market for their wood – Europe.

Also, notes David Carr, general counsel for the Virginia-based Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), there is little if any regulation of private forest harvesting in the Southeast US. He points out there are no Federal or state laws regulating harvesting and no mandatory

biomass harvesting standards.

He points out, for example, that the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission found “there are currently no standards or guidelines that require the sustainable management of the utilization of woody biomass. Sustainability refers to continuing forest productivity as well as to ecosystem protection, and biodiversity protection.”

Carr adds that the only forest harvesting guidelines are purely “voluntary” such as the South Carolina voluntary biomass guidelines and the Voluntary Best Management Practices (BMPs) focused on protecting water quality.

“There are basically no restrictions on clear cutting forested wetlands in the Southeast.

Third-party certification programs,” he insists, “do not affirmatively prohibit this practice.”

Carr adds that Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) certification have “potential” to include wetlands as Forests With Exceptional Conservation Value (FECV), but do not guarantee protection of forested wetlands.

However even voluntary certification programs are not followed in the Southeast, Carr notes.

“As of 2011, FSC was used on less that one percent of forestland in North Carolina and less than 1.5 percent in Virginia. SFI was six percent or less at that time,” Carr explains.

Because cutting of these forests is mostly unregulated, loggers are targeting pristine wetlands and bottomlands to feed the unrelenting European pellet market. And because these forest areas have already shown dramatic depletion, this added pressure for pellets adds insult to injury.

For instance, forested wetlands in the South decreased 10% between 1950 and the 1970’s and have continued to decline since. North Carolina, for example lost 1.2 million acres of forested wetlands in the 70s and 80s, according to the USDA’s Southern Forest Resource Assessment.

A table published by the SELC illustrates how much wood the massive existing pellet plants produce as well as how much wood will be consumed by proposed pellet operations, all in the Southeast US. Presently there are 24 pellet plants in eight Continued on page 18

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green Loop ’ Conceptual Plan at ‘

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Core of Big Apple Composting

By P.J. Heller

Aerial view of a Green Loop composting center in the Hudson River with a t isn’t often that words such as “brilliant,” “awesome” and “futuristic” 12 acre rooftop park. Photo courtesy of PRESENT Architecture. are used to describe a commercial composting manufacturing facility.

Nor are words uttered such as “radical,” “loopy” or “half-wacky.” facility,” he adds. “This provides something more than that.”

But that’s exactly the mixed reactions to what can best be described As for city officials, “We haven’t had much response,” he says. “I think as a novel and unique conceptual idea to provide composting facilities they’re trying to figure out what this is.” throughout New York City. As envisioned, there would be 10 street-level The project is still in the conceptual stage and many questions, composting plants topped by elevated public parks spread along the city’s including the cost to build the Green Loop, how much organic waste it waterfront. could handle and what would happen to the finished compost, are still The so-called Green Loop project is the brainchild of architectural unanswered. firm, PRESENT Architecture, in New York City.

“We don’t have an answer for all of those things,” Erlebacher says.

“The main things for us are: dealing with the waste problem, dealing “The way we see it is it’s better to truck finished compost than trash. The with the different greenhouse gases that are generated from our waste main goal is basically to responsibly process the organic waste and then management system, trucking, landfilling and dealing with park space/ the next hurdle is figuring out what to do with the compost. We’d rather open space and borough equity,” explains Evan Erlebacher, a partner in have compost on our hands than just trash that’s landfilled.” the two-year-old firm.

Some of that compost could be used in city parks and community Among the benefits that PRESENT Architecture cites for its gardens, as well as in construction and landscape projects, he suggests. conceptual plan are: Some could be marketed out of state, although he admits he’s not sure *Eliminating the cost — estimated at $300 million a year — and if there would be a demand for it and if that demand might help finance associated issues with trucking waste to out-of-state facilities as far away the operation. as Ohio.

“Maybe all of the reduced truck miles we’re saving on would be a “We send trucks millions of miles every year, creating traffic, noise financial incentive for building the project,” he says. pollution and greenhouse gas emissions,” the firm notes on its website. “All The firm’s website notes that the finished compost could be transported of this so that our waste can be landfilled, where it then rots and creates away by barges or rail. even more greenhouse gas. It’s a big, dirty problem.”

The Green Loop, which would take years to complete, could be built * Creating much-needed open and green space for city residents in phases. with the elevated parks above the compost plants. The plan would add The concept was unveiled just as the city announced plans to expand approximately 125 acres of parkland which could be used year-round and its pilot composting program, which requires which might include educational facilities and some residents to separate organic waste neighborhood gardens. from other trash. The program is expected “We like to think it [Green Loop] is to expand to every borough within five doing double duty,” Erlebacher says. “It‘s years. City officials estimate that 30 percent composting people’s waste and also giving of its waste stream could be diverted by neighborhoods a really valuable amenity of composting. open green space. Space is the one thing no The city, in the fall of 2012, first offered one ever seems to have enough of in New curbside collection of organic waste — York.” including food scraps, yard waste and * Providing “borough equity” in which food-soiled paper — from selected schools, each borough is responsible for processing its residences and institutions. In 2013, it began own waste rather than just one or two being collecting organics from single-family homes responsible for the city’s entire waste stream. and small residential buildings in the Bronx, The Green Loop idea was just unveiled Brooklyn and Staten Island. There are also but already has attracted public interest neighborhood-based food waste drop-off sites. worldwide, according to Erlebacher.

“Food waste is the largest percentage of “We’re pleasantly surprised,” he says. “We The Facility has an elevated public park on top that’s didn’t expect it. We didn’t expect it to go viral large enough to accommodate anything from educational waste in New York City, and we have to deal . . . We thought there were people who would facilities and neighborhood gardens to cross country with that if we’re going to sustain the future,” have some interest in it . . . but not at this level. skiing in the winter. Photo courtesy of PRESENT newly appointed Department of Sanitation “It’s not just another waste treatment Architecture.

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Continued from previous page

Commissioner Kathryn Garcia told the New York Post.

Among Garcia’s plans is to convert organic waste into natural gas.

The city’s pilot curbside organic waste collection program had prompted Erlebacher and his partner Andre Guimond to begin looking into how the waste would be handled.

“It basically began as a research project in our office,” Erlebacher recalls. “After we got into it, we realized there were all these other issues about social justice and borough equity.”

That led to the idea of separate composting facilities for each borough and how to make those facilities more desirable places.

The duo tested various ideas and consulted with engineers before coming up with their plan. “We landed on the concept of having the parks and began designing for that concept,” Erlebacher says.

Erlebacher, Guimond and others point to the upsides of the idea.

Composting the organic waste and creating the parklands “means drastically reduced truck miles to landfills, decreased traffic, noise, and pollution, with the added benefits of safer streets, cleaner air and fewer greenhouse gas emissions,” PRESENT Architecture says. “Plus a new type of public park and a product for market — nutrient-rich compost made in NYC.” The Green Loop would have the city’s sanitation trucks bring organic waste to each of the pier hubs, where it would be turned into compost.

Erlebacher says the hubs could handle all of the residential organic waste that is generated.

“It’s our best guess,” he says. “It would obviously need to be tested and verified.”

He was less certain about being able to handle organic waste from commercial establishments, such as restaurants, schools and grocery stores.

“Would this be able to handle it? I don’t know,” he confesses. “It’s something that needs to be looked at. It’s possible that what we’re proposing could handle everything, but I’m really not sure.”

Questions about possible odors generated by the composting operation and the threat of rising water levels, superstorms or even hurricanes could all be addressed in the planning and design phases, Erlebacher says.

“There’s a big difference between a regular backyard composting heap and an industrial facility,” he says when discussing concerns about odors.

“From our research and talks with engineering consultants, we think it’s a manageable problem.”

Not everyone agrees. One poster on the gizmag website commented, “Whoever came up with this idea has never been to a composting plant.

In one word: odour.”

Another naysayer wrote, “Take the stinkiest crap you can get your hands on, put it all in one place, and . . . turn it into a public space? This idea totally stinks.”

As far as the threat of water or storm damage, Erlebacher points out that “there are responsible ways of dealing with it.

“It’s a design question,” he says. “It needs to be engineered for those challenges. We haven’t taken the project far enough where I could tell you specifically how to implement design. It’s something we would design for.”

He notes that the hubs are not floating islands which would rise and fall with the water level but rather would be more like piers jutting out over the water.

Whether New York City officials embrace the Green Loop plan remains to be seen.

“We’re serious about it. We think it’s a good idea,” Erlebacher says.

“We would love to be part of a solution. I think right now it’s a little bit out of our hands at the moment. But we are serious about the idea and support it. We would like to see something come of it.”

City officials did not respond to a request for comment on the idea.

Even if the Big Apple decided that it didn’t want the Green Loop, the concept could still be viable for other cities, regardless of whether they are located along coastal areas, rivers or waterfronts, Erlebacher says. The concept, he says, could be implemented anywhere in the world. ”It’s a universal problem that cities all over the world are dealing with,” he says. “The concept can change depending on the location. It doesn’t necessarily need to be a waterfront location. That’s essential in the context of New York, but it’s not essential elsewhere. It’s an idea that could adapt to different cities.”

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Southampton Judge Overturns Zoning Board Decision on Mulch Business

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ridgehampton, NY—After annulling a local zoning board decision regarding operation of a mulching facility, a county Supreme Court judge called the board’s move “irrational, arbitrary and capricious,” according to an article on www.27East.com.

As a result of the February decision, Wainscott Sand & Gravel, a long-time Bridgehamptonbased sand and gravel business, will be able to continue processing and selling mulch at its Sand Land facility.

A July 2011 decision by the town’s chief building inspector to approve Sand Land’s certificate of occupancy was reversed one year later by the Southampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals. The ZBA reviewed the permit when presented with a petition by a group of neighboring residents. The group, which includes the owner of a golf course that borders the Sand Land property, expressed environmental concerns, specifically taking issue with the potential harm that Sand Land might be causing to a shared aquifer. Upon review, the ZBA ruled the company’s operations were not grandfathered, and thus were affected by a 1972 zoning law that designed the area for residential use. Further, the ZBA noted that the operations were out of compliance with county restrictions on the storage, sale and delivery of mulch, topsoil and wood chips.

In response, legal counsel for the owner of Sand Land filed an appeal to the Suffolk County Supreme Court arguing that the mulching operation had been in place since the 1960s and went hand in hand with the mining business, which the ZBA previously had sanctioned as a nonconforming, pre-existing use.

On the property in question, Sand Land runs a solid waste processing plant, that takes in landscaping materials, compost, rock and tree stumps. The business has been using mulch created by the waste to fill in pits where sand was mined and also sells the unused, processed materials.

Justice W. Gerard Asher concluded that the ZBA’s decision “made no sense,” and noted that the sand and gravel mining business had been operated continuously at the property from 1963 to the present and that “tree stumps, shrubs, branches, leaves and yard waste as well as concrete, asphalt pavement, bricks, stones and other construction debris have been dumped on the property for decades.”

According to the judge, the Sand Land operation is in good standing with the State Department of Environmental Conservation.

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March / April 2014

State Slaps Delaware Mulch Company with $8.3 Million Penalty

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ollowing a state crackdown on environmental waste offenders, a Delaware scrap and mulch yard faces a huge sanction and heavy fines for violations, reports a www.DelawareOnline.com article.

In 2009 the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNREC) issued Mike Davidson Enterprises (MDE) a Resource Recovery Facility Permit to operate a recycling facility in central Delaware. MDE began accepting construction and demolition debris to make into mulch and grade stakes.

The company also began recycling concrete, brick and metal from the construction and demolition debris. DNREC conducted two compliance assessments at the facility in January of 2010, and again in March of that year, during which inspectors found what they deemed to be ongoing violations of the provisions of the permit and Delaware solid waste regulations.

In its notice of violations, DNREC said the company “demonstrated an unwillingness” to follow state law and “engaged in a pattern of willful neglect and reckless disregard of regulations.”

The company continued to accept waste after DNREC issued a second violation notice in May of 2012. Stockpiles, which grew to over 100,000 tons, included the toxic waste such as polychlorinated biphenyls, arsenic and chromium wastes, which exceeded state limits.

By this time, DNREC had taken 14 noncompliance actions against the company. The agency issued MDE a cease and desist order in June of 2012, which the company later appealed and lost. DNREC revoked MDE’s permit to operate in August of 2012. At one point, the company’s abandoned waste piles caught fire at one point and smoldered for days.

MDE is being labeled an environmental “chronic violator” and faces a potential $8.3 million sanction. Daily fines of $10,000 may be imposed for repeated disregard of earlier cleanup orders and abandonment of a contaminated site.

“Designating a facility as a chronic violator is an enforcement tool of last resort to be used when all other regulatory authorities have failed to achieve compliance,” said DNREC Secretary Collin P. O’Mara said in a written statement.

Delaware’s legal action noted that Davidson had failed to set aside financial reserves for eventual shutdown and cleanup, as required by law.

O’Mara said that the company appeared to have been generating enough revenues to meet its obligations. Davidson instead “has chosen instead to retain such funds for his own use, rather than make necessary investments in the business.”

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Massachusetts Prepares for Organic Waste Ban

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oston, MA—With its organic waste ban program to begin next October, Massachusetts state and local agencies are helping affected organizations and institutions put plans into action, www.Ecori.org reports.

Massachusetts law will require any institution, business, college, hospital or other non-residential organization producing more than a ton of organic waste a week to divert these materials from landfills. Instead, the waste will be used as animal feed, composted or converted to energy.

Energy planners are promoting anaerobic digestion as a way to transform the organic materials into energy. Digesters that can produce substantial amounts of methane and compostable material to ultimately heat and power buildings also take substantial financial investment. The state is offering grant money toward design and construction of organics-toenergy projects, in addition to supporting a small number of organics-to-energy studies.

In addition to the $400,000 in grants, Massachusetts’ Department of Environmental Protection’s Recycling Loan Fund has $3 million in low-interest loans for privately owned anaerobic digestion facilities, according to the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. Another $1 million in grants for public entities will be available through DEP’s Sustainable Materials Recovery Program.

Green energy from organic waste in significant amounts remains on the horizon, however. Permitting through state and local agencies, coordination with utility companies, construction lead times and plans yet to be completed by individual institutions and businesses all must be worked out. What’s more, the waste will need to be trucked to sites outside the city, a costly and fuel-intensive part of the process in itself. Currently in the Boston area, the only site converting organic waste into energy is the Deer Island sewage treatment plant, which processes 350 to 500 tons weekly.

The DEP has published a set of guidelines showing how much organic waste the different sizes of institutions and businesses produce. Organizations can use these guidelines to estimate whether or not their facilities may be affected by the ban.

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Vermont Denies 35 MW Biomass Power Plant

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www.lachenmeier.us/soil-mulch Info Request #186

ontpelier, VT—The Vermont Public Service Board (PSB) has sided with conservation groups that were opposed to the construction of a 35 MW biomass power plant, reports an article on www.PFPI.net.

The 35 MW North Springfield Sustainable Energy plant would have burned 450,000 tons of wood a year, most of which would have been sourced from whole-tree harvesting. The developer had claimed there would be a greenhouse gas benefit, but testified to not having done any analysis to demonstrate a reduction in emissions. Considering the facility’s carbon dioxide emissions, the PSB decided that energy conservation, efficiency and load-management measures are more cost effective priorities.

“This is an important decision for the state of Vermont, and nationally”, said Mary Booth, Director of the Partnership for Policy Integrity, an organization that helped the citizen opponents, the North Springfield Action Group, contest the facility in front of the PSB. “When policymakers see that bioenergy involves harvesting forests and burning the wood in low-efficiency power plants, they conclude that large-scale bioenergy isn’t compatible with greenhouse gas reduction goals.”

In its review of the plant proposal, PSB concluded that “the evidentiary record supports a finding that the Project would release as much as 448,714 tons of CO2e per year, and that sequestration of those greenhouse gases would not occur until future years, possibly not for decades, and would not occur at all in the case of forest-regeneration failures.”

Vermont has established a statutory goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 50% from 1990 levels by 2028 and the board felt the proposed biomass plant would interfere with that goal.

While the biomass project planned to use some thermal energy to provide heat for businesses in the industrial park where it was to be located, the plant’s peak efficiency still would have been around 28%. The average efficiency of the US coal fleet is 33%.

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Biodegradable Plastic Mulch Looks Promising

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ount Vernon, WA—Researchers from the Washington State University, Northwestern Washington Research and Extension Center have tested a plastic mulch solution that works well and doesn’t harm the environment, reports www.Phys.org.

The scientists studied and compared three materials -- Mater-bi®based black film (BioAgri), experimental polyhydroxyalkanoate film (Crown 1), and experimental spunbonded polylactic acid fabric (SBPLA-11). Their findings were reported in the journal, HortTechnology.

The study was conducted at Washington State University’s Northwestern Washington Research and Extension Center during two growing seasons. Using the three materials on different vegetable plots, a team of three researchers logged subjective visual assessments to track deterioration of the plastic during the cropping season. Then, they kept a photographic record of deterioration after the mulches were incorporated into the soil at the end of the crop growing season.

Numerous studies have rated the performance of biodegradable plastic as being close to that of polyethylene plastic, which is widely used to mulch agriculture and horticultural crops. Studies have compared crop yield and quality, weed suppression, and overall function of the different plastics.

But polyethylene plastic has serious drawbacks, the researchers point out.

The main problem is its disposal. At the end of the growing season, the plastic material ends up in landfills, buried or is burned on-site. This is why biodegradable plastic mulch is an important alternative.

Yet not all biodegradable plastic mulches perform or degrade equally.

Though most of the studies report satisfactory deterioration, both in-

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season and postharvest results show that deterioration varies depending on mulch material tested, cropping system and climate.

“As measured by percent visual deterioration (PVD), deterioration of the plastic films BioAgri and Crown 1 occurred more rapidly during the growing season than SB-PLA-11,” the authors noted. “Holes began to appear in Crown 1 within 2 weeks of installation in both years. Within 4 to 6 weeks, Crown 1 had split down the center. Once the splits began to expand laterally, primarily due to wind action, PVD increased notably.”

Like Crown 1, BioAgri also began to display holes two to three weeks after installation and BioAgri® split down the center, typically between transplant holes, but not until 8 to 12 weeks after installation. “It is important to note that when splits expanded, the mulch bunched at the edges of the split,” Cowan said. “Although this is not deterioration per se, this bunching formed creases which later split, effectively accelerating actual deterioration.”

The team concluded that two of the mulches evaluated in the study— BioAgri and Crown 1— deteriorated to a sufficient extent that they could meet National Organic Standards Board recommendations regarding biodegradation for certified organic production. “Both mulches retained enough integrity throughout the growing season to inhibit weed growth.

Thus, both mulches could be a suitable alternative to polyethylene mulch for broccoli production in the Pacific Northwest,” the researchers said.

“Despite the positive results shown through research, the successful transition from nondegradable plastic mulch to biodegradable plastic mulch use in agriculture, ultimately, will be grower driven,” said Jeremy Cowan.

Would you like more information about products and equipment advertised in this issue? If so, complete the Equipment Locator Service form between pages 12 & 13 and fax to 440-257-6459.

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Mulch Producer NEWS

Idaho Wood Waste Recycling Station Shut Down

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win Falls, ID—The city of Twin Falls closed its wood waste recycling station due to expense and safety issues, reports www.MagicValley.com.

Last August, the City Council voted to temporarily halt recycling operations. Since then more than 200 tons of wood accumulated at the site, much of which was illegally dumped there.

In February, council members voted to shutter it permanently and dispose of the wood. The recycling station was run under an agreement with Southern Idaho Solid Waste since the mid-1990s to reduce wood waste going into the landfill. The company chipped the wood waste at the city’s site but last year bought a grinder that generated more dust and flying debris than the previous one, according to a press release issued by the city.

The release further explained, “This was a concern to the city because workers had already had issues with the amount of dust and flying debris produced during prior grinding operations, as well as the negative impact the site had on neighboring businesses. The proximity of the site to two major city streets also made it dangerous for motorized traffic when dealing with dust and flying debris during chipping operations.”

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Mulch Producer NEWS

Wintertime Mulch Fires in New Jersey and Ohio

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earny, NJ—Six pumpers, one ladder truck and more than 25 firefighters were needed to control a blaze at the Nature’s Choice mulch facility here in mid-March, reports an article on www.NJ.com.

In addition to Kearny firefighters, two other local companies were called. Together, they used more than 4,000 feet of large diameter hoses, Deputy Fire Chief John Harris told the media.

The two-alarm fire, which took several hours to control, began when a mulch pile combusted and grew in intensity, aided by high winds. News video footage showed that smoke from the fire could be seen for miles.

In May of 2013, a brush fire erupted at the Nature’s Choice plant site in Roxbury, NJ. That blaze took about 12 hours to bring under control.

No damages to property or buildings resulted.

In Macedonia, Ohio, even the season’s most frigid temperatures could not prevent a large compost pile from combusting here in late February, according to an article on www.TheNewsLeader.com.

Norfolk Southern Railroad workers smelled smoke coming from the Greenline Landscaping property adjacent to a major freeway and alerted the local fire department.

Macedonia Fire Chief Tim Black told reporters the fire, which continued to burn for more than a week, had started deep inside a 50- to 60-feet high by 100-foot long compost pile.

“It’s not like it’s going anywhere, it’s just going to sit there and burn.

We don’t want it to free burn because it’s burning up all his material,” Black said.

Hindered by cold temperatures, firefighters and company personnel finally brought the fire under control by using an excavator to continually expose smoldering material and hose it down with water. They had to keep the water flowing to avoid frozen pipes and hoses. There was no threat to buildings or adjacent property.

C&D Waste Recycling Facility Planned for Vermont

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ownal, VT—TAM Waste Management has received town approval for construction of a recycling plant that will accept construction and demolition (C&D) waste here, reports an article on www.BenningtonBanner.com.

The plant, which will be built at a decommissioned wood products mill, must now secure permits from the state Natural Resources Board.

TAM is asking the state for authorization to handle a maximum of 60,000 tons of material per year.

The facility, which will employ 15 workers, will be able to accept nonhazardous materials in addition to C&D materials, the latter of which will be separated and sold. Trevor Mance, founder and owner of TAM, is looking to recycle between 50 and 80 percent of the C&D that comes in.

If all goes as planned, material such as shingles will get recycled for asphalt and road material, while clean wood will be chipped and composted at TAM’s new composting facility in Bennington.

Mance said the composting facility and recycling center should help local businesses and governments comply with the requirements of Act 148, the Universal Recycling law, which will be phased in over the next few years.

Before approving the facility permit, the Pownal Development Review Board wants TAM to build an earthen berm to reduce noise and to restrict hours of operation to between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. Also, a proposed building will need to be relocated farther from a property line.

The company plans to make an addition to one of the larger buildings, but Mance says most of the recycling center’s activities will occur indoors.

Approval must also come from each of the nine localities that are members of the county’s Solid Waste Implementation Plan. Any new solid waste facility built in one of the towns has to be approved unanimously.

Letters of support and two public hearings must be held.

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Wood Pellet Production for European Energy Demands Threatens Southern US Forests Continued from page 3 Southeast states. All but six, ship their total output to Europe. These 18 exporting plants ship over 7.9 million tons to Europe annually.

Of the 20 proposed pellet plants, all but one will ship nearly 7.6 million tons to Europe each year.

And Carr notes that each plant, existing and proposed, obtains its wood supply within a 50 to75-mile radius of the facility.

“The South has historically been a source for wood and has an active forestry industry.

Northeast forests are not as extensive and logging on private lands is more regulated.

We’ve also had a very steady demand for

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pulpwood mainly for packaging materials. This increasing demand for wood for pellets is going to drive up the prices for pulpwood and that worries many people, “ explains Carr.

In addition to the increased CO2 emissions caused by all the pellet burning and loss of hardwood forests that provide a carbon sink, Carr and others point to the massive loss of wildlife habitat in the Southeast US due to the clear cutting of hardwood wetlands and bottomlands.

Carr insists that Enviva is clear cutting from wetlands and bottomlands, areas which cannot

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be replanted and which will sprout quickly but will take 60 to 100 years to regrow. In the meantime, wildlife habitat that is the home to migratory birds like the Swamp Canary and mammals such as the black bear is disappearing at an alarming rate, he says.

He notes that the major US pellet manufacturer, Maryland-based Enviva, LP, cuts nearly 60% of its wood from habitat sensitive bottomland hardwoods particularly in the Roanoke River area along the North CarolinaVirginia border. Enviva pellets are shipped from this region through an Enviva-owned dock at Chesapeake Port.

Recently, in an article published in the UK publication, The Mail, Enviva spokesperson Elizabeth Woodworth, admitted her company does use whole logs in its pellet process. But she says it only uses logs deemed “unsuitable for sawmilling because of small size, disease or other defects.”

“Bottom line for me,” says the Dogwood Alliance’s Quaranta, “how can anyone call the wood pellet industry sustainable? The energy from these forests is not carbon neutral and the habitat loss is staggering. Europe is setting off a carbon bomb and the Southeast US is providing the materials.”

Photos courtesy of Southern Environmental Law Center.

NYC Sanitation Department Leader Backs Food Composting Program

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ew York, NY—The city’s new Sanitation Department commissioner wants New York to play a leading role nationally with its ambitious food composting program, according to www.NYPost.com.

Kathryn Garcia, formerly with the city’s Department of Environmental Protection was recently appointed by NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio to lead the Sanitation Department. In her previous job, she oversaw water supply, sewer operations and wastewater.

“Food waste is the largest percentage of waste in New York City, and we have to deal with that if we’re going to sustain the future,” Garcia told the press.

Former mayor, Michael Bloomberg had begun a composting pilot program, which is now in effect in some Staten Island and Brooklyn neighborhoods. Garcia says she will continue with that program, expanding food waste collection to every borough within five years.

Phasing out the agency’s gas-powered vehicles with electric ones is also on Garcia’s agenda.

Soil

The Big Picture – Does Food Waste Recycling Create Problems?

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oston, MA—Some conservationists warn that Massachusetts’ ambitious zero food waste program may create new problems in place of the ones it solves, according to an article on www.TheGuardian.com.

Kenneth L. Kimmell, commissioner of Massachusetts’ Department of Environmental Protection, has emphasized the state’s “hands off” approach to food waste recycling. The objective of this tack is to leave the development of the market and services up to private businesses.

But a project scientist for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) says that one of the potential problems with the state’s approach is that it lifts responsibility from individuals, who continue to consume and waste.

NRDC’s Dana Gunders notes the success of Britain’s program, which has achieved a 20% reduction in residential food waste. Gunders believes the Massachusetts program makes food waste invisible, and thus, people don’t sense the urgency to practice conservation methods to prevent food waste in the first place.

“When consumers become aware of how much food they’re wasting, and the high cost of that wastage, they begin moving to a new paradigm in which they realize that food wastage

is not OK,” she explains. “Sometimes, there’s a risk with composting. There’s a feel-good aspect to recycling and composting that can override our impulse to prevent food waste in the first place.”

With regard to the state’s push for building anaerobic food digesters, Gunders argues that the digesters will tend to incentivize waste.

“If we don’t think about prevention, we’re going to build these machines that need to be fed,” she explains. “We need to look at how much food could be reduced and size for that future quantity.

We don’t want to create a situation in which we need to produce feedstock for these machines in order to produce energy.”

Meanwhile, the DEP’s Kimmell notes that the commonwealth is currently diverting 100,000 tons of food waste annually. He estimates that the new program, being launched in October of this year, will more than quadruple that number.

“We plan to reduce our food waste by 450,000 tons yearly by 2020,” he says.

Under the new program, 1,700 affected businesses will have to donate or otherwise repurpose their edible food. Any leftovers that cannot be repurposed or donated will go to composting facilities for agricultural use, or to anaerobic biogas operations, for electricity production.

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Mulch Producer NEWS

Ecoscraps Partners With St. Louis Composting to Expand Availability in Midwest

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coscraps, a provider of organic, chemical- and manure-free lawn and garden products, recently announced its partnership with St. Louis Composting to make Ecoscraps’ organic, OMRI-listed compost soils and fertilizers available to retail nurseries and garden centers. Through the partnership, Ecoscraps says it is expanding the company’s sustainable, closed-loop business model to the lawn & garden market in the Midwestern United States.

As part of its business model, Ecoscraps will purchase compost made from food waste and other residuals that is produced by St. Louis Composting, and resell it as organic, chemical- and manure-free lawn and garden products in regional gardening centers.

Ecoscraps began its partnership with St. Louis Composting on February 1.

To subscribe to Soil & Mulch Producer News, call 440-257-6453 today.

Info Request #142 March / April 2014 Soil & Mulch Producer News 19

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Bandit Continues to Expand Dealer Network

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rickm@garick.com

id-Michigan manufacturer Bandit Industries continues to expand its dealer network in North America, adding seven new dealers to serve customers in the United States.

Bandit’s newest dealers will serve customers in northern Louisiana, central and southern Mississippi, central and southern Alabama, the Florida Panhandle, eastern Tennessee, central Virginia, western Kansas, and South Dakota.

Equipment Inc. operates four locations in the southern United States - Jackson, Miss., Hattiesburg, Miss., Shreveport, La., and Mobile, Ala., carrying hand-fed chippers and stump grinders.

A-Ok Power Equipment, based in Santa Barbara, Calif., serving four locations in southern California - Santa Barbara, Carpinteria, Anaheim and Solvang - carrying and servicing hand-fed chippers and stump grinders.

Fairbank Equipment Inc. serves western Kansas and South Dakota, carrying and servicing hand-fed chippers and stump grinders.

Stowers Machinery Corporation serves eastern Tennessee and sells and services Bandit’s Beast XP-Series horizontal grinders and forestry mowers.

Chipper Pro LLC and Forest Pro Inc., serving central Virginia, sells whole tree chippers, and provides parts and service.

Quality Equipment and Parts Inc. serving Lake City in central Florida.

They offer service, parts, and Bandit large equipment sales, including Beast Horizontal grinders, whole tree chippers, and forestry mowers.

Forestry 21 Equipment, serving Alabama’s whole tree chipper needs.

They offer sales, service, and parts for Bandit’s line of whole tree chippers.

“We are very grateful for the hard work our dealers do in representing Bandit and serving our customers,” said Bandit Industries President, Jerry Morey. “It’s not enough to just have a good product. We have built a reputation for taking care of our customers, and that would be impossible to do without a strong dealer network.”

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Morbark, Inc., Partners with Precision Sharpening Devices, Inc., to Provide Bevel Buddy through Dealer Network

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orbark, Inc., a manufacturer of wood waste reduction equipment, recently announced that it has signed a contract with Precision Sharpening Devices Inc. to become the exclusive original equipment manufacturer to sell the Bevel Buddy™ Chipper Knife Sharpener through its authorized dealer network.

Since 1988 Precision Sharpening Devices, Inc., has been manufacturing counter grinding/back beveling equipment for knives used by a variety of industries, mostly for the pulp and paper, sawmill, plywood, and whole tree chipping markets.

“The partnership between Morbark, Inc., and Precision Sharpening Devices, Inc., with their line of Bevel Buddy™ Chipper Knife Sharpeners will offer our customers a product that helps them operate their equipment at the highest levels of efficiency,” said Mark Mills, Precision Sharpening Devices, Inc. “The results are fuel savings, meeting production quotas, less down time, and greatly reducing their overall costs while maintaining a quality product and a safer work environment. Both parties view this as a ‘What’s best for the customer’ focus.”

New Environmental Products Business Launched: EcoVision Environmental

hogzilla@cwmill.com

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fter many years of working with EcoSafe, Orbis Corporation, Norseman Plastics and SCL-A1 Plastics, respected suppliers in the environmental market; Doug Hill, President of EcoVision Environmental created a company to bring the best practices, programs and products into the waste diversion world. EcoVision Environmental will place a major emphasis on helping communities and businesses reach their waste diversion goals by developing programs for organics and multistream recycling which make up to 90% of the waste stream.

EcoVision Environmental has partnered with some of the sector’s leading manufacturers, providing a unique array of products that will help with the three main components of a successful program – high capture rates, high participation rates and low contamination rates.

Peterson Awards Barry Equipment 2013 Dealer of the Year Award

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eterson Pacific, a Eugene, Oregon based manufacturer of horizontal grinders, drum and disc chippers, blower trucks, and screens recently announced Barry Equipment, Co. of Webster, Massachusetts, as their 2013 Dealer of the Year. This is the second time in two years that Barry Equipment has won the award.

“Barry Equipment, Co. has achieved this award twice due to their assembly of a world class sales and product support team. Their support after the sale is unsurpassed within our industry and Barry’s dedication, focus, and vision to the Peterson product line, and the markets we serve, make them a tremendous partner and raises the bar for dealer performance.

Peterson is honored to have Barry Equipment, Co. as a dealer and proud to present the Dealer of the Year award for the second time to recognize their superb performance in 2013” said Brian Gray, Eastern Sales Manager for Peterson.

sales@armorhog.com

www.armorhog.com Info Request #136 March / April 2014 Soil & Mulch Producer News 21

Product/Equipment Profiles

FINN Launches New Bark & Mulch Blower

Morbark, Inc., Debuts Slow-Speed Shredder at CONEXPO

I N N Corporation, a manufacturer of landscape and erosion control equipment, r e c e n t l y introduced the BB 5-Series Bark & Mulch Blower, a new model designed for ease of use and dependable performance for the landscape and erosion control contractor.

The new lightweight design and full five cubic yard material hopper increases payload capacity and leaves available more towing options. Due to its simplified control package and streamlined engineering design, the BB 5-Series will be a dependable workhorse for bark, mulch, compost and soil blend applications and is straightforward to maintain and troubleshoot, leading to vital uptime and optimal productivity.

Operators are also easier to train in its proper use, helping to maximize revenues and giving the end user greater flexibility with their workforce.

The FINN BB302 and now the BB 5-Series are considered small size Bark & Mulch Blowers and are traditionally used for residential landscape mulch installation, soil and compost blends for garden beds, and for filling filter sock as an erosion control measure to replace silt fence.

orbark, Inc., a manufacturer of wood waste reduction equipment for more than 50 years, will debuted it’s new slow-speed shredder at this year’s CONEXPO show.

Morbark partnered with its European dealer, OBMtec, to produce the Barracuda, a single-rotor, slow-speed shredder for markets outside of Europe. The Barracuda, developed by OBMtec and manufactured at Morbark’s Winn, Mich., factory, offers a universal solution for industrial, C&D, wood and other waste streams, providing a high-quality end product with low operating, maintenance and fuel costs.

Key benefits of the Barracuda include: • Ease of maintenance: The Barracuda is designed with serviceability in mind. All daily maintenance can be done while standing at ground level.

• Versatility: The Barracuda’s ground-level adjustment door allows you to adjust grates in as little as 2 minutes, reducing downtime and increasing productivity.

• Low operating costs: The Barracuda’s single rotor and bolt-on hammer inserts reduce maintenance times; the internal rotor gearbox, with high torque, provides greater fuel efficiency; and the large hydraulic reservoir lowers operating temperatures.

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For more information contact FINN Corporation at 513-874-2818 or visit www.finncorp.com.

Lake Erie Portable Screeners Introduces Portable PitbullTM 2300 Screening Plant

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he Pitbull 2300 Screening P l a n t manufactured by Lake Erie Portable Screeners gives landscapers, contractors and municipalities a compact and portable machine that delivers maximum efficiency and high outputs with a wide range of materials such as topsoil, mulch, gravel and asphalt. It is available in both diesel and electric-powered models.

Lake Erie Portable Screeners developed the Pitbull 2300 with simple operation, maintenance and transport in mind.

The machine incorporates several unique features, such as full hydraulic operation, tubular frame construction, a Torflex axle and a reversible shaker that set it apart for mid-size screening projects.

The screening plant incorporates heavy-duty materials throughout, all the stress points are fully gusseted, and both attachment points and stress points are 100 percent welded with high-strength steel. The result is a machine with a curb weight of 13,440 pounds.

For more information contact Lake Erie Portable Screeners at 888-448-2486 or info@pitbullscreeners.com or visit www.pitbullscreeners.com or www.facebook.com/pitbull.screeners.

22 Soil & Mulch Producer News

March / April 2014

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For more information, contact Morbark at 989-866-2381 or 800-831-0042 or visit www.morbark.com.

Industrial Engine Governors Made Easy

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oley Engines is now offering, free of charge, a booklet to help install and maintain your GAC, Hoof, Pierce or Woodward governor.

This booklet contains o u r h e l p f u l D r.

Diesel Tech Tips and Guides (as well as our Governor Installation Instructions) to help you install, maintain and upgrade your GAC, Hoof, Pierce or Woodward governor.

Foley Engines is one of the oldest engine distributors in North America. Founded in 1916, we are a family owned, fourth generation business specializing in industrial engines, replacement parts, industrial power takeoffs, and exhaust scrubbers/purifiers. To support our customers we stock over 600 engines, over 150 PTOs, and 20,000 square feet of parts and offer immediate, same-day shipment anywhere in the world.

To receive this free booklet on governor maintenance and upgrades, please call Foley Engines at 800-233-6539 or email our Dr. Diesel at DrDiesel@FoleyEngines.com.

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There are many reasons why professionals all around the world turn to the Beast® for grinding and recycling. Rugged construction. Excellent fuel economy. Exceptional performance, just to name a few. It doesn’t matter if you’re grinding with the patented cuttermill or chipping with a dedicated chipping drum, processing material in a regrind or a single pass. And when it comes to end products—whether it’s playground mulch, wood chips, colored mulch, ground shingles, recycled plastic and more—nobody else can match the Beast for size, consistency and production. Nobody.

That’s why Beast® horizontal grinders aren’t just purchases. They are investments. Investments into your company. Your livelihood. Your future.

For 30 years, companies large and small have trusted Bandit Industries to build the equipment they need. So shall it be for 30 more. From wood chippers to stump grinders, horizontal grinders, forestry mowers, and specialty wood process equipment, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t own a Bandit. Invest in your future today—invest in a Bandit.

WATCH IT RUN!

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Inside This Issue

Wood Pellet Production for European Energy Demands Threatens Southern US Forests PAGE 1 ‘Green Loop’ Conceptual Plan at Core of Big Apple Composting PAGE 4 Massachusetts Prepares for Organic Waste Ban PAGE 8 Biodegradable Plastic Mulch Looks Promising PAGE 13 Wintertime Mulch Fires in New Jersey and Ohio PAGE 16 The Big Picture – Does Food Waste Recycling Create Problems?

PAGE 19

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