Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 9, 1990 TAG: 9005090785
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Try the Roanoke Valley Regional Landfill.
It may be cheaper there. You can get enough mulch to fill the back of a half-ton pickup truck for $5.
The landfill has sold 90 tons of mulch in the past two months since it bought a "tub grinder" to grind up brush and other wood scraps.
Jeff Cromer, landfill manager, said today that with summer ahead, he expects business to pick up.
The landfill has received $1,122 from the sale of mulch since it began grinding up the brush that is brought there to be buried, Cromer said.
The $5 charge is for a full bucket scoop by a backhoe, Cromer said. A full scoop will fill the back of a pickup truck, he said.
If customers want a smaller amount, Cromer said, "we will work with them on the cost."
Grinding the brush has two benefits: It saves space in the landfill and creates a beneficial product.
The landfill paid $189,500 for the tub grinder that operates similar to a hammer mill that grinds grain.
Cromer said the brush is ground up and then filtered through screen. A magnet is used to remove nails and other metal scrap from the brush after it has been ground.
Kit Kiser, Roanoke's director of utilities and operations, said the city has bought mulch from the landfill to put around the flowers and plants at the sewage treatment plant.
"The manager of the treatment plant liked it so much he put it around all the flowers and plants there," said Kiser, a member of the landfill's management board.
On another matter today, the landfill board approved a $81,000 grant for a recycling program by Roanoke County.
The program will involve 2,000 residents who will be given 60-gallon rollout containers for recyclable materials. The county will collect the recyclable materials once a month.
Earlier, the board approved grants for recycling programs in Roanoke and Vinton.
The board was also told that a pilot recycling project that includes drop-off boxes at two Kroger stores continues to exceed expectations.
Since the project began three months ago, the volume of recyclable materials deposited in the boxes has far exceeded the original estimate.
Cycle Systems had planned on only six pickups each month - a total of 12 pickups - at the Kroger in the Cave Springs Corner and Lake Drive shopping centers, but 24 pickups were needed in the first month and 42 in the second month.
The board and the Clean Valley Council are also participating in the project.
by CNB