Bellmawr Ecological Center Is Trying Out A New Bag The Steadily Growing Composting Facility Took The Next Logical Step
BELLMAWR For the Bellmawr Ecological Center, success is in the bag.
The borough's regional composting facility which last year was honored by the state municipal engineers' society as New Jersey's top management project has opened its own bagging plant, as the operation continues to grow.
It is the latest twist on a facility that, for years, was an eyesore and a headache, an abandoned landfill, for Bellmawr. After the state mandated in 1985 that Bellmawr close and cover the site off Creek Road, borough officials knew they had to deal with the problem creatively.
Not in any position to pay the estimated $1 million required to close and cover the site, the borough decided to turn it into a regional vegetative waste composting facility. From the start, it was a financial boon, as proceeds from the recycling operation offset the cost of equipment the borough had to buy to cover the landfill.
The Bellmawr Ecological Center has been growing steadily ever since,fake oakley sunglasses, bringing in more than $160,000 annually through leaf dumping fees and compost sales. About $20,000 of that is used to offset municipal taxes each year.
When the center opened, Bellmawr focused only on composting its own leaves. After a few years, it opened the facility to nearby towns.
At first, only four other communities took their leaves to Bellmawr, but when the state banned burning leaves or dumping them in landfills, Bellmawr's program quickly became popular.
Currently, 19 Camden County municipalities and five Gloucester County towns dispose of leaves at the site, paying Bellmawr $1.25 in tipping fees for each cubic yard. The leaves are turned into compost and top soil, then sold to area residents, businesses and municipalities.
That's where the bagging plant comes in. Bellmawr, for the last few years, had sent its finished compost to a bagging plant outside of town. With the transportation costs figured in,oakley youtube, the town was paying about 71 cents for each bag it got back.
We started to realize that, in the long run, it will cost us less to do our own bagging,'' said Joe Ciano, superintendent of public works. . . . And we hope in the future to do bagging for other companies. The program is just growing and growing. Getting our own bagging plant was the next logical step.''
The $142,000 bagging machine and the $150,000, 70 by 100 square foot building that houses it were paid for through a 20 year municipal bond. Ciano said he expects the center to pay off the debt in about six years.
We're that successful,'' he said.
Despite the cost of the bagging plant, the bagged compost products have not gone up in price.
We don't have the transportation costs anymore that we did when we shipped stuff out to be bagged,'' Ciano said. We're confident we're going to recoup the cost of the plant back pretty quickly.''
The bagging operation is run by three public works department employees several days each week, as needed. The massive machine fills, seals and presses bags filled with topsoil or compost. Moved from a conveyer belt onto a rising platform, the machine then wraps groups of up to 60 bags in plastic.
These pallets'' of bagged material are stored in the warehouse and sold as needed. Bellmawr also sells prebagged mulch, and Ciano said he hopes the borough will eventually make and package its own mulch.
Borough workers are still getting used to operating the new machine, which went on line in early June.
It's not hard to use,'' assistant public works superintendent George Coleman said. As our people get better on it, they go faster.''
It takes about 15 seconds for each bag to be filled, sealed and compressed. The actual heavy duty plastic bags used for compost and topsoil feature the center's rose logo. savings bond from the Borough Council in a competition involving all the local schools last year.
The summer is an especially busy time at the center. In June alone, about $43,000 of bagged compost, both retail and wholesale, was sold, Ciano said.
We're always busy,'' office manager Starr Coleman said. We get some tremendous orders.''
A few months ago, Bellmawr began offering home delivery of composting products. Costs range from $3 to $15, depending on how far it has to be delivered.

wholesale oakleys Base...s slim pickings for Tribe

oakley cheapergas Brightening Eye Creams

oakley youtube Be Popular With It

replica oakleys and Not a Drop to Drink

wholesale oakleys Bed Bugs