Soil & Mulch Producer News Mar/Apr 2020 by Downing and Associates

Vol. XIV No.2

March /April 2020

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

NEWS

The New Definition of the Waters of the United States Protects the Waters, the Environment and Property Rights

he U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Army finalized the Navigable Waters Protection Rule to define “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS). This probably caused a large number of people to yawn; few know what the WOTUS are or the importance of this ruling. But for those who have been affected negatively for decades, this ruling is close to monumental. A bit of history is necessary to fully understand what we are seeing. • In 1969, the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio caught fire. Oily debris, which was trapped beneath two wooden trestles, was ignited by sparks from a passing train. The fire reached heights of over five stories and lasted nearly half an hour. This was the dirtiest river in the country, but others were nearly as polluted. • Determined to resolve the issue of pollution throughout the United States, Congress passed the National Environment Policy Act (NEPA), which was signed into law on January 1, 1970. This act established the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which shortly put forth the Clean Water Act (1972), regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and regulating quality standards for surface waters. It also mandated that all rivers be hygienic enough to safely allow mass amounts of swimmers and fish within the waters by 1983. Early in his administration, President Donald Trump, issued an executive order mandating that the EPA and Army Corps review the broader Obama-era interpretation of both WOTUS and the Navigable Waters Protection Rule. The EPA referred to the assessment and change of the WOTUS rule as Step 1, in the agency’s repeal of Obama-era regulations, and

By Kathleen Marquardt issued a final rule that took effect on Dec. 23, 2019. Step 2, concerned the definition of “Navigable Waters” as it relates to environmental protection, which is covered in this ruling. Both people and the environment benefit with the new WOTUS rule by removing the confusion of jurisdiction. The delineation, as to which level of government, federal or state, oversees which body of water, has finally been well defined. “Today, thanks to our new rule, farmers, ranchers, developers, manufacturers, and other landowners can finally focus on providing the food, shelter, and other commodities that Americans rely on every day, instead of spending tens of thousands of dollars on attorneys and consultants to determine whether waters on their land fall under the control of the federal government,” announced EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “… instead of spending tens of thousands of dollars on attorneys and consultants… .” Strong words from an EPA administrator, but they attest to the enormous overreach of the 2015 Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule. This new ruling both restores weakened private property rights and does away with some of the more egregious regulatory controls of the old act. That is not an exaggeration. A good example of the problem with the old act

is the story of John Pozsgai, a first-generation immigrant, who took title to city land next door to his property that was being used as an illegal dump, and told the city he would clean it up. Amongst the other detritus in this dump were over 5,000 tires, over one thousand of which were blocking a storm water drainage ditch that had been built by the township in 1936. He cleaned out the junk and covered the area with topsoil. For that action, Pozsgai was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison for placing topsoil on his property, because EPA bureaucrats decided that a portion of his lot was a marginal wetland which connected to ‘navigable waters of the United States -- in spite of the fact that the only water came from the 1936 storm drainage ditch. There are many stories like Pozsgai’s. Too many people have been fined many thousands of dollars, denied use of their property, and, yes, even imprisoned by the use and abuse of the old law. This new ruling was too long in coming for many Americans, but hopefully reason, logic and the rule of law will prevail and, if the law is again altered, it is toward even more protection of rights while safeguarding our waters. This ruling retains federal jurisdiction over “navigable waters of the United States,” as provided in the Clean Water Act. The Continued on page 3

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Soil & Mulch Producer News March /April 2020

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Mulch Producer NEWS

The New Definition of the Waters of the United States ... Continued from page 1

ruling says: “For the first time, the agencies are streamlining the definition so that it includes four simple categories of jurisdictional waters, provides clear exclusions for many water features that traditionally have not been regulated, and defines terms in the regulatory text that have never been defined before. Congress, in the Clean Water Act, explicitly directed the Agencies to protect “navigable waters.” The Navigable Waters Protection Rule regulates these waters and the core tributary systems that provide perennial or intermittent flow into them. The four clear categories of waters that are federally regulated are: • The territorial seas and traditional navigable waters, (like the Columbia and Mississippi Rivers) • Perennial and intermittent tributaries to those waters, • C e r t a i n l a k e s , p o n d s , a n d impoundments, and • Wetlands adjacent to jurisdictional waters. The final rule also details 12 categories of exclusions, features that are not “waters of the United States,” such as features that only contain water in direct response to rainfall (e.g., ephemeral features); groundwater; many ditches; prior converted cropland; and waste treatment systems. The final rule clarifies key elements related to the scope of federal Clean Water Act jurisdiction, including: • Providing clarity and consistency by removing the proposed separate categories for jurisdictional ditches and impoundments. • Refining the proposed definition of “typical year,” which provides important regional and temporal flexibility and ensures jurisdiction is being accurately determined in times that are not too wet and not too dry. • D e f i n i n g “ a d j a c e n t we t l a n d s ” as wetlands that are meaningfully connected to other jurisdictional waters, for example, by directly abutting or having regular surface water communication with jurisdictional waters. Neither ditches nor other drainage areas are included in the new rules, which makes a lot of sense. They do not affect the environment negatively when built according to regulations. The 2015 ruling would have placed almost all navigable waters under federal control, even those on private property, thus giving the federal government control over considerable land as well. Dr. Bonner Cohen of CFACT, has pointed out, “Delivering on candidate Trump’s 2016 campaign promise, the administration has brought clarity to the statute and relief to landowners. In Step One, announced in

September, the White House repealed the Obama WOTUS rule in total. Federal courts had already struck down large sections of the rule, and now the whole monstrosity has been scrapped. Now, in Step Two, the administration is actually defining key waters-related terms of the law whose lack of definition have bedeviled farmers, ranchers, and others rural landowners for decades.” Cohen added, “What have been changed/ removed were the overreaching rules and regulations that the federal government has had over bodies of water from mud puddles to ponds to oceans.” In a news-release by both the EPA and the US Army, R.D. James, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works stated: “Having farmed American land myself for decades, I have personally experienced the confusion regarding implementation of the scope of the Clean Water Act. Our rule takes a common-sense approach to implementation to eliminate that confusion. This rule also eliminates federal overreach and strikes the proper balance between federal protection of our Nation’s waters and state autonomy over their aquatic resources. This will ensure that land use decisions are not improperly constrained, which will enable our farmers to continue feeding our Nation and the world, and our businesses to continue thriving.” This Ruling is not, as some say, the destruction of the Clean Water Act. Federal jurisdiction over navigable waters of the United States is just as it was written in the 1973 Clean Water Act. It was the 2015 determination to broaden the federal jurisdiction to bodies of water not specified in the Clean Water Act, in an attempt to extend that jurisdiction to other bodies of water not specifically identified in the 1973 Clean Water Act, that has been blocked. Both the National Association of Manufacturers and American Farm Bureau were opposed to the 2015 regulation. The Farm Bureau stated: … it creates confusion and risk by giving the agencies almost unlimited authority to regulate, at their discretion, any low spot where rainwater collects, including common farm ditches, ephemeral drainages, agricultural ponds and isolated wetlands found in and near farms and ranches across the nation, no matter how small or seemingly unconnected they may be to true “navigable waters.” The 2015 rule would have forced landowners to seek permits from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and/or the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to undertake any activity on their property that might affect a nearby body of water, be it a drainage ditch, stock pond, or puddle. Obviously, this won’t be the end of the discussion. There will be lawsuits to up-end this ruling and to reinstate the 2015 ruling. But for now, at least on the issues of clean waters and who owns or controls them, we have reasonable regulations on the books.

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PUBLICATION STAFF Publisher / Editor Rick Downing Contributing Editors / Writers P. J. Heller • Kathleen Marquardt 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. ©

March /April 2020 Soil & Mulch Producer News

Soil

Mulch Producer NEWS

Coronavirus Orders Spur ‘Mulch Madness’ By P.J. Heller

ulch manufacturers appear to be viewing themselves as part of an essential supply chain for businesses deemed “essential services” and are remaining open and operating as states and cities impose shutdowns on businesses and issue stay-at-home orders for most of the public in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. At least two states, Delaware and Connecticut, have named garden centers and nurseries as “essential services” exempt from business shutdown orders, according to Robert LaGasse, executive director of the Mulch & Soil Council. At least 10 other states have included home centers, hardware store or building supply shops as essential services. “The inference is that the supply chain supporting those essential businesses is also exempt and considered essential,” LaGasse said. While LaGasse notes that position has not been proven or disproven, he says it is only logical since “there’s no point in being an essential business if you don’t have any suppliers” providing materials. Some states, such as Pennsylvania, have struggled to identify “lifesustaining” businesses that can remain open. Gov. Tom Wolf initially issued a mandatory shutdown order March 19 for businesses, which included the forestry and logging industry. He issued a revised order the following day after industry leaders and lawmakers called the initial list overly broad and unfair. Further complicating the situation nationwide is the fact that some cities have issued their own rules for business shutdowns and orders for people to stay at home. Among the states that have identified essential infrastructure workers, California has two areas under its Food and Agriculture category that could apply to the mulch industry. The first identifies “employees engaged in the production of . . . substances used by the food and agriculture industry,

including pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, minerals, enrichments and other agricultural production aids.” The second area includes “workers who support the manufacture and distribution of forest products, including, but not limited to timber, paper and other wood products.” Jim Weber, president of Ohio Mulch, says mulch manufacturers play a vital role in many of those industries. “Our industry is a vital part of the food and paper industry,” he says. “Without us, they would struggle or not be able to survive.” One area of prime importance to the general public has been the availability – of lack of it lately – of toilet paper, as shoppers began hoarding it as concerns escalated about the coronavirus. “Our industry actually supports the manufacture of toilet paper,” says Weber, board president of the Mulch & Soil Council. Loggers harvesting timber to bring to paper mills that make toilet paper generate a lot of scrap wood along the way, which is then collected by mulch companies, he explains. “The only person who will take that is our industry,” Weber says. “So we support the loggers that produce the wood to give to the paper mills that make toilet paper and other types of paper goods. Every single paper mill that makes toilet paper is supported by our industry.” Further, when logs get to the paper mills, they are debarked. The mulch industry then takes away those residuals, he notes, reducing both fire and environmental impacts at the mill sites. “Our industry also takes scraps from the loggers that take logs to the mills that are used to produce pallets,” he says. The mulch industry also removes scrap pallets from businesses so that they can be replaced by new pallets, he adds.

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Marchâ&#x20AC;&#x2030;/April 2020 â&#x20AC;&#x192; Soil & Mulch Producer News

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Coronavirus Orders Spur ‘Mulch Madness’ Continued from page 4

“If you’re going to make food or toilet paper or other essentials, how are you going to ship it if you don’t have any pallets,” Weber asks. Despite stay-at-home edicts from state and city governments, the retail mulch business appears to be booming. Both LaGasse and Weber said the situation was similar to the days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001. Before that date, about 10 percent of the U.S. households had fruit or vegetable gardens and would purchase soil and mulch, they said. After 9/11, the percentage of people with gardens eventually shot up to approximately 50 percent, they said. “There was a huge explosion in home vegetable gardening” LaGasse recalls. “We believe that’s being repeated now. People I have talked to who have mulch/soil/landscape retail outlets say that consumers are buying in record amounts.” Weber agrees. “We have seen people coming in buying soil and mulch products getting ready to grow their own fruits and vegetables again, just like after 9/11,” he says. A North Carolina television station reported similar findings as people sought ways to remain busy while being mostly confined to their homes during the pandemic. Guy Prevost of Atlantic Gardening Company in Raleigh described the situation to the TV station as “mulch madness.” Prevost said shelves were also nearly empty of herbs and vegetables. The Illinois Department of Health suggested that “outdoor landscape projects generally will provide for good social distancing that poses little risk of [coronavirus] transmission, but it still is important to ensure the ability to wash or sanitize hands and take other precautions.” Despite demand, Weber says others in the industry with whom he’s spoken have reported cutting back staff. “Every single one of them has reduced their staff, gotten rid of

excess personnel, gotten rid of extra projects and are just focused on manufacturing of product and intake of raw materials,” he says. Ohio Mulch, which has operations in Ohio, Georgia and Kentucky is no exception. It has cut back its staff of about 200 people, allowed some to work from home and postponed some projects and maintenance. To ensure physical distancing among employees, only one person is allowed per office or cubicle and visiting a colleague’s area is prohibited. Employees have their temperature taken daily and anyone with a fever is told to stay home for two weeks. No one has tested positive for COVID-19 at the company, Weber reports. Even truck drivers who come in to pick up or drop off materials have their temperature taken. “If they have a temperature . . . we make them leave,” Weber says. “We don’t want them on the property.” As of March 26, Ohio had 867 confirmed coronavirus cases with 15 deaths reported, according to the Ohio Department of Health. Nationwide, there were nearly 75,000 cases with 1,100 deaths. The number of cases both statewide and nationwide were believed by health officials to be underestimated due to limited testing. Worldwide, there were at least 510,000 cases with more than 23,000 deaths. LaGasse says he has not heard of any mulch facility having to close due to the coronavirus. Most plants are heavily automated so having employees keeping their distance from one another should not be a problem. he says. Weber is hopeful that the coronavirus situation will improve sooner rather than later. “I would rather see people planting fruits and vegetable at their home and enjoying the outdoors than sit inside and drink alcohol and smoke pot,” he says.

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March /April 2020 Soil & Mulch Producer News

Soil

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Mulch/Pallet Company Helps Power Biofuels Plant By P.J. Heller

hil Mueller admits it hasn’t always been easy to find green wood for mulch manufacturing in eastern South Dakota. “We’re still in a strike-a-match-and light-up kind of 1800s state,” he says. “We’re kind of behind the curve and always have been It’s a big challenge for us. Our number one competitor is a match.” Despite that, Mueller Pallets in Sioux Falls, which started in his grandfather Arlin’s garage in 1980, has survived. Today, Mueller Pallets is a second-generation family-owned business that has become the region’s leader for pallets and wood recycling. With some 40 employees, it operates out of two 20,000-square-foot warehouses and offers the public two free drop-off sites for wood waste. The company serves customers in a 150-mile radius. Despite the lament by Phil Mueller concerning the availability of raw materials, the company recently surpassed a milestone in recycling, providing a total of 1 billion pounds of mulch to POET Biorefining in Chancellor, about 20 miles from Sioux Falls. The plant, one of 27 POET facilities in the U.S., produces some 110 million gallons of ethanol annually. POET is the world’s largest ethanol producer with biofuel capacity expected to reach 2 billion gallons in 2019. The Chancellor plant burns several hundred tons of mulch daily in its solid-waste fuel boiler, as well capturing and burning methane gas from the Sioux Falls city landfill. “This process at POET-Chancellor is a flagship program for the

biofuels producer in using diversified energy to run its biorefining plant, reducing its use of natural gas and further lowering its carbon footprint,” the company says. POET-Chancellor is the largest customer for wood waste from Mueller, accounting for about 90 percent of its mulch production. Mueller first began supplying POET in 2007. Chad Fodness of Mueller Pallets notes that the 1 billion pounds sent to POET over the years were scalable pounds. Other uses for the company’s mulch include landscaping and livestock bedding. “We’ve done colorizing in the past and are looking at getting back into that again soon,” Mueller says. “We’re always looking for more markets,” Fodness adds. “Up here (eastern South Dakota) we’re very limited in the types of markets that would use wood chips in bulk.” Mueller utilizes multiple wood grinders to handle its wet or dry non-treated scrap wood. The company prefers not to deal with construction waste because of contamination issues. It also won’t accept any wood that has been treated, painted or varnished. “A lot of people often stop by and thank us for offering the [free drop-off] sites so wood can be reused rather than be buried or burned,” Fodness says. Mueller says most communities in the area have public drop off sites for recycling tree branches and other items, which in the past would simply pile up they were buried in the landfill or burned.

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C of A is short for Certificate of Analysis. Just as nutritional information on food labels helps people control their diets, an AgriCoatings C of A provides information to assist mulch manufacturers control colorant costs. Density and Viscosity. Although mulch colorants are purchased by the pound, they are consumed by the gallon. When a mulch producer sets the desired color, regardless if by a peristaltic pump or a mixing chamber, it is imperative to know how much color is being applied and the cost associated with it. By using a product with uniform density and consistent viscosity batch to batch color costs can be more accurately established. Tint Strength and Filter Checks Consistent tint strength helps the mulch producer make consistent colored mulch. Tint strength is determined by comparing a specific batch against a liquid standard. While processing pigments, AgriCoatings periodically takes color readings, examines the mill filters for particle size and then adjusts the color; maximizing pigment efficiency. The dispersion of the pigments allows the color system to adequately cover the mulch. Some people refer to this as “hide”. C of A’s offer the mulch producer important data and assures, with relative certainty, that the next batch will be the same as the last. An AgriCoatings Certificate of Analysis is a straight forward document, easily understood and is provided with every shipment...at no charge. Publicizing this report requires us to be ever vigilant in our practices and procedures. If your colorant supplier does NOT provide a Certificate of Analysis, ask WHY?

Page 1 10/01/2019 at 8:57 am

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Certificate of Analysis /QC Results Customer PO # 2453478 Packaged Product:

WMC82523-YP1 Bently Black

TEST VISCOSITY BROOKFIELD 8/20 DENSITY TINT STRENGTH PH TEST FILTER CHECK LOT#

51768

MADE

09/01/2019

EXPIRES

07/01/2020

TARGET/UOM

RANGE

RESULT

500 CPS

200 - 800

200

10.00

9.50 -10.50

10.00

100.00 PERCENTAGE

95.00 - 105.00

102.25

10.00

9.50 -10.50

10.00

DIRT

Y/N

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Mulch/Pallet Company Helps Power Biofuels Plant Continued from page 8

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“I call it a matchstick state,” Mueller says. Reusing the wood waste is much better for the environment than having it landfilled or burned, he says. “It’s not only good for the environment, it’s less of a nuisance for people in town that we’re serving,” Mueller says. “They don’t have to smell the ashes burning for weeks on end or worry about the winds picking up and causing grass fires.” The company’s business is split about 50-50 between pallets and mulch production. “We’ll take on just about anything wood related, ranging from making 24-by-24-inch pallets o building custom crates for large generators,” Mueller says. Wood waste generated from the pallet side of the business is reclaimed and used on the mulch side. “One feeds the other,” he notes. Mueller says that right now, wood waste is plentiful, due in part to three tornadoes with winds of 125 mph that tore through the Sioux areadownassoc2@oh.rr.com in September of last year, damaging • Falls Email: and downing trees in its wake. News reports said it was the first tornado to touch down and damage the city in 30 years. Sioux Falls, population 180,000, is in extreme eastern South Dakota, about 15 miles west of the Minnesota border. Other wood waste comes from the drop-off sites, land clearing and partnerships with local communities. One unusual source of supply came from a local company that had some 6,000 wood boards used as axe-throwing targets at Escape 605 Axe Throwing and Escape Rooms. Mueller describes the region’s wood supply situation as “feast or famine.” “Some years are great years and some years not so great,” he says. “There aren’t a whole lot of trees out here,” Mueller says, noting that logging is non-existent. “I never would have thought we could pull off what we are doing [with mulch production]. People are still in disbelief over how many tons of wood we can scrape up in this prairie land area.”

NEWS

Article photos courtesy of Mueller Pallets

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March /April 2020 Soil & Mulch Producer News 11

Soil

Mulch Producer NEWS

News From The Mulch & Soil Council

By Robert LaGasse, Executive Director

EPA Says Glyphosate Not A Carcinogen

PA has concluded its regulatory review of glyphosate — the most widely used herbicide in the United States. After a thorough review of the best available science, as required under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), EPA has concluded that there are no risks of concern to human health when glyphosate is used according to the label and that it is not a carcinogen. These findings on human health risk are consistent with the conclusions of science reviews by many other countries and other federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Canadian Pest Management Regulatory Agency, the Australian Pesticide and Veterinary Medicines Authority, the European Food Safety Authority, and the German Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The agency is requiring additional mitigation measures to help farmers target pesticide sprays to the intended pest and reduce the problem of increasing glyphosate resistance in weeds. Glyphosate has been studied for decades and the agency reviewed thousands of studies since its registration. Glyphosate is used on more than 100 food crops, including glyphosate-resistant corn, soybean, cotton, canola, and sugar beet. It is the leading herbicide for the management of invasive and noxious weeds and is used to manage pastures, rangeland, rights of ways, forests, public land, and residential areas. In addition, glyphosate has low residual soil toxicity and helps retain no-till and low-till farming operations. More information on glyphosate and EPA’s interim decision is available at www.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesticide-products/ glyphosate

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ccording to a recent issue of Transport Topics, a California state judge has ruled that federal law exempts a New Jersey-based motor carrier from a new California law that calls for reclassifying independent contractor truck drivers as company employees. The Jan. 8 ruling said that an independent contractor/employee test required by the new state law, known as Assembly Bill 5, is preempted by the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994, aimed at increasing competition and reducing the cost of trucking services. “The record before the court in this case confirms the commonsense conclusion that AB 5 would have a substantial impact on trucking prices, routes and services, as motor carriers in California revamp their business models either to utilize only employee drivers or attempt to satisfy the business-to-business exception,” Judge Highberger wrote. “As the evidence shows, in those circumstances where defendants have contracted with licensed motor carriers to transport loads, the cost of such transport was nearly triple the cost of using independent owner-operators for the same route.” Highberger’s ruling comes in a lawsuit filed by the Los Angeles City Attorney’s office against NFI Industries and its subsidiaries, drayage operator Cal Cartage Transportation Express, CMI Transportation, and K&R Transportation California, for alleged misclassification of truck drivers under AB 5. NFI is a Camden, N.J.-based business that includes transportation operations in California. NFI operates approximately 50 million square feet of warehouse and distribution space, and its companyowned fleet consists of more than 3,000 tractors and 12,500 trailers. NFI ranks No. 19 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America. California’s AB 5 “ABC test” requires that motor carriers render their workers employees unless the employer demonstrates that the worker is: A. free from the control of the hiring entity;

Continued on next page

Soil Continued from previous page B. the worker performs work outside the usual course of the hiring entity’s business; and C. the worker is customarily engaged in an independent trade or occupation. Part (B) of the three‑prong test is the one that carriers say they have found next-to-impossible to demonstrate.

Aphis Citrus Quarantine Map

f you source raw wood materials from citrus stock, following APHIS quarantine regulations was a challenge until now. USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s (APHIS) new Citrus website delivers a comprehensive, single resource for stakeholders and the public. Now users can quickly find information about citrus pests and diseases, explore interactive quarantine maps, view the latest regulations by pest or state, and report signs of citrus pests and disease—all in one place. For more information, email: PPQ.Citrus.Health@ usda.gov. Robert C. LaGasse is Executive Director of The Mulch & Soil Council. If you would like to learn more about the Mulch & Soil Council, please visit their website at mulchandsoilcouncil.org. If you would like to become a member, please call 806-832-1810.

Mulch Producer NEWS

National Storm Recovery Acquires Mulch Manufacturing to Create The Sustainable Green Team

ational Storm Recovery Inc. recently a n n o u n c e d t h at i t h a s a c q u i r e d Mulch Manufacturing, Inc., a mulch operation headquartered in Reynoldsburg, Ohio. This acquisition, structured as a share exchange, provides the Company with a significantly larger footprint in the mulch industry. “With Mulch Manufacturing’s national and international distribution, its sales contracts with many big box retailers and the increase in production and packaging capacity it provides, this strategic acquisition has positioned us as - The Sustainable Green Team,” the Company’s CEO, Tony Raynor, stated. Mulch Manufacturing’s CEO, Ralph Spencer continued, “This business combination has created an industry power house; and with our combined strengths, puts us in an ideal position to increase our sales and resulting margins, as our combined operations benefit from the resulting vertical integration and economies of scale.”

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Shelter-in-place May Create “Avalanche” of Residential Food Waste

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he COVID-19 pandemic may result in a spike in residential food waste from people overstocking with groceries, reports BioenergyNews.com. As the coronavirus interrupts lives and routines, people have been purchasing food in large quantities, but many may find themselves with more than they can eat. Hence, lots of perishables may go to waste. If this food waste makes its way to anaerobic digester (AD) plants that convert it into biofuels, the boon could be a bust. Residential food waste often contains contaminants, such as packaging and debris found less often in institutional or restaurant food waste. A higher influx of organic waste, along with any debris, can block or weigh down AD systems. One AD equipment supplier told Bioenergy News that plant operators should consider investing in high-quality add-on pumps to protect systems from expensive breakdowns and repairs. Figures on food waste related to the pandemic will take time to obtain. Meanwhile, groups such as The California Grocers Association are calling on shoppers to stop “panic buying,” which they say is unnecessary because the food chain has remained intact. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, an article published in NewScientist. com discussed a Wageningen University & Research food waste study. The Netherlands university analysts found an average person wastes around 527 kilocalories (kcal) a day. That is one-fifth of the 2500 kcals the average man needs to maintain a healthy body weight, according to the UK’s National Health Service, or a quarter of the daily recommended intake for a woman. The researchers compared how much food is produced – based on UN data on its availability – and how much is eaten, as calculated by the energy people need to consume, as well as World Health Organization data on body mass from 63 countries.

Machine Owners from Across North America Attend Rotochopper University 2020

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14 Soil & Mulch Producer News March /April 2020

otochopper owners and operators gathered at Rotochopper’s manufacturing facility in St. Martin, MN for training the last two weeks of February. The customer service department hosts Rotochopper University annually for companies that have purchased Rotochopper grinders during the past year. The two-day class includes a manufacturing facility tour, equipment operation best practice training, a hands-on demonstration and plenty of networking opportunities allowing machine owners to learn from each other as well. This year the education focused on ‘how to properly feed your grinder’, ‘how to perform preventative maintenance’ and ‘how to troubleshoot’. The hands-on demonstrations showed attendees how to install the main rotor bearings and how to adjust the sheave and tension the drive belt on a Rotochopper grinder. “The class was well organized, the instructors are very knowledgeable, plus they kept things moving with the mix of classroom and hands on training,” attendee from Norwich, Ontario. Rotochopper offered two session options, with over 50 students from 35 companies across the US and Canada attending. “Rotochopper University was very beneficial. I was able to gain knowledge on every part of my machine. It felt very personal, and not like generic coverage. This was a very good course and I would recommend to anyone with a Rotochopper machine,” attendee from Appleton, WI. Headquartered in St. Martin, MN, Rotochopper designs, builds and supports a complete line of horizontal grinders, wood chip processors, asphalt shingle grinders, and mobile baggers.

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Gardening Therapy Spells Increased Business

UK’s Proposal to Subsidize Wood Biomass Opposed

ALEIGH, NC – Raleigh’s television news, ABC11.com reports that residents were flocking to gardening centers in record numbers this March as they look for ways to be productive at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. People began buying herbs, vegetable plants and lots of mulch at retailers such as Atlantic Gardening Company in north Raleigh, largest garden retailer in the state. The owner told reporters he ordered more mulch and was trying to keep product stocked. Long considered a healthy hobby, gardening is helping people weather the pandemic. The Raleigh retailer is meeting the increased demand with online ordering and expanded home delivery. Cash registers were moved outdoors. The Chicago Sun-Times also reports the heightened interest in gardening. As spring arrives in the northern hemisphere, people throughout the U.S., Germany and the United Kingdom are dealing with the chaos and social isolation by planting vegetables and flowers. Meanwhile, plant stock is expected to remain in good supply. The Ohio Nursery and Landscapers Association (ONLA) released a statement on March 24 clarifying the state’s essential business guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Production agriculture is specifically listed as critical/essential, and nursery and greenhouse production is federally classified as agriculture, indicating growers should be able to remain operational at this time. We don’t believe there is an effort to parse out different types of agricultural operations in this order. Minimum basic operations are also allowed to include activities to maintain the value of the business’s inventory and preserve the condition of the business’s physical plant material which would require growers to keep staff on site to maintain the plants that need care to maintain their value.”

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NGLAND – A proposal to subsidize wood biomass to meet the United Kingdom’s net zero carbon target by 2050 is facing strong opposition, reports Telegraph.co.UK. When the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) called for subsidies to support the expansion of forest cover across the UK, its announcement was met with swift opposition from the think tank Chatham House, which countered that chopping down forests for renewable energy was “almost certainly counterproductive.” Last year biomass provided 12% of the UK’s electricity, making it the second most successful source of renewable energy after wind. In 2017 the British biomass industry, which is run mostly on imported wood pellets, received £1 billion (about $1.23 billion USD) in government subsidies. Fern, a forestry NGO funded by the Department for International Development, has emphasized that burning wood for energy on an industrial scale could be “worse for the climate than burning coal, expensive and harmful to human health.” The use of potentially carbon intensive forestry also undermines the role of biomass in creating “negative emissions,” a core part of the government’s plan to meet net zero by 2050. The “carbon capture and storage” approach uses technology to remove the emissions created from burning biomass and store them into the ground. Fern urges the government to protect and restore existing forests, an approach it says is cheaper and benefits the climate. Grassland crops and short rotation coppice are greener alternatives, the organization says. In 2018, the CCC itself warned that the government should carefully scrutinize the sources of biomass energy and avoid those that “do not sequester carbon” where there were other renewable alternatives.

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New York City Food Waste Recycling to Relaunch

ew York, NY – Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the New York City Council has called for organic waste recycling to be available – and possibly mandatory – for all New York residents, according to PressStories.com. Only a small fraction of NYC residents (10%) participate in food waste recycling, although more than a third of residential waste consists of organics from the kitchen and yard. Instead of going to landfill, this waste could be turned into compost or biogas, which is what the city council members want to see happen. If the plan is approved in the coming months, it will be rolled out gradually over several years, as was done with recycling of plastics and glass in the 1980s. The city would first make bins available everywhere, launch a public awareness campaign, and then make participation mandatory. Currently, organic curbside bins are available in parts of Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, and for buildings that request them in Manhattan and the South Bronx. In larger multi-family residences in all boroughs, building managers have to agree to have bins – and few do. In 2016, a non-partisan group, the Citizens Budget Committee, determined that separate collection of organic matter would cost New York between $177 million and $251 million per year. But the City Council staff estimated the amount at $40 million and said the costs would be offset by fuel savings and the cost of transporting unsorted garbage to distant landfills. Currently, organic materials are processed at a Department of Sanitationoperated anaerobic digester at the Newtown Creek wastewater treatment plant. In the future, 13 other digesters belonging to the city could be used to turn the organic waste into biofuel.

Wood Waste and Recycled Concrete Mixture Could Save Construction Costs

OKYO, Japan – Scientists at The University of Tokyo have discovered that mixing used concrete with wood fibers produces a new building material that is highly durable, reports Inhabitat.com. A team from the Institute of Industrial Science set out to make better use of old concrete and waste plant or wood materials. They developed a process that involves taking discarded concrete and grinding it into a powder. This substance is then mixed with water and powdered wood waste sourced from sawdust, scrap wood and other agricultural waste. The resulting slurry is heated and pressurized, allowing for lignin, an organic polymer that comprises wood’s vascularized tissue, to become an adhesive. The lignin fills the gaps between the concrete particles and gives the material strength and flexibility so that it can withstand various types of force. The study’s lead author says the findings can promote a move toward a greener, more economical construction industry, reducing stores of waste concrete and wood. Concrete is a primary building material throughout the world. Derived from blasting limestone out of the earth and then heating it to cause calcination, the material is extremely energy intensive to make and transport. According to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, approximately 2.35 billion tons of concrete are produced each year around the globe.

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Founded in 1972, the Mulch & Soil Council (MSC) is the national non-profit trade association for all producers of horticultural mulches, consumer potting soils and commercial growing media. The mission of the MSC is to define quality products and promote an open marketplace for producers of horticultural mulches, consumer soils and commercial growing media. MSC truly is your resource for answers to problems facing today’s mulch and soil industry. We provide members with: • PRODUCT STANDARDS • PRODUCT CERTIFICATION • REGULATORY REPRESENTATION • ANNUAL MEETING • ON-LINE TRAINING COURSES • INDUSTRY INFORMATION • SPECIAL REPORTS • ACCESS TO INDUSTRY RESEARCH

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VOL. XIV NO. 2

U.S. Postage

PAID

MARCH / APRIL 2020

Inside This Issue The New Definition of the Waters of the United States Protects the Waters, the Environment and Property Rights PAGE 1

Coronavirus Orders Spur ‘Mulch Madness’ PAGE 4 Mulch / Pallet Company Helps Power Biofuels Plan PAGE 8 News From The Mulch & Soil Council PAGE 12 Shelter-in-place May Create “Avalanche” of Residential Food Waste PAGE 14 Wood Waste and Recycled Concrete Mixture Could Save Construction Costs PAGE 18

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