Document 6514390

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nd traiíG
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high cost
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How to best markef?“@
by Caroline Repenning
) keeping
disposal,
: benefits
I not have _
e the film
that they
lg collecover the
to reduce
were unand storid dry for
aterial intter effort
t is going
lo covers
nade sevng to foi:n cutting
odryand
ling it up
otect feed
lirty. As a
,nue to be
material.
and time
for recymay want
that farm1,dry maqdle, thus
.er opporRR
es of plas-
unPlastics
e available
$urce.com).
Ily at APC,
M
arketing is just
as ifuportant
to
operational
süccess in
compost+g
as production.
Compostingis a greatconceptbecauseit helps
the environment,saveslandfill spaceand pus
peopleto work. Thus, many peoplehave concluded: Let’s start a composting operation.
That’s exactly what 1 did, as have many
othersin this growing industry. We know we
are doing “the right thing,” and perhaps that
1~11s
us into a dangerouscomfort zone. But
the reality of running a composting company is no different tban any other business.We
must manufacturea product of proven value,
and we must market it.
The GreenCycle companies, based in
Northfield, Illinois, compost organic materials, such as yard trimmings, wood waste,
soiled horse bedding and pre-consumerfood
scraps, at 10 sites around the country. Becausewe are paid for acceptingincoming materials, compost operatorsoften feel that the
rigors of selling finished compost are not as
important to us as they are to other businesses. But GreenCycle,like everyoneelse in the
composting industry, has to find markets for
its products. From this experience, 1 have
severa1recommendations.
Just because your product is “recycled” doesn’t mean buyers want it
We market the benefitsof our productsto potential customers,not the fact that the prod-
ucts are the result of recycling. The fact that
these products are recycled makes the customer appropriately pleased with his environmental awareness.But that’s not enough
to makehim want to buy it. Compostis ~01th
paying money for becauseit improves water
retention,makesplantsgrow betterand faster,
and rejuvenatescompactedturf.
In laboratorystudies,some compostsh:
been shown ti be effective against turf (
eases,and GreenCycle is now working w
golf course superintendentsin New Brit;
Connecticut and Glenview, Illinois to
whether tbe disease-suppressingcharacte.
tics of compost observed in the laboratc
can be realized on thesecourses.
Develop value-added organic products
Don? rely on the legislative
environment
Compost operatorsneed to develop and market morepmductsthatoffer additionalcustomer
benefíts,not just a one-size-fits-allcompost.
For example, GreenCycle is involved in
efforts to prove the merits of using specially
made composts on golf courses. These facilities have unique needsin termsof soil supplements. Becauseof the biological stresson
turf from high usage and from the need to
mow the grass frequently and keep it short,
golf course superintendentsfrequently have
to deal with turf diseases. Chemicals, such
as fungicides, are effective against thesediseases,but they are expensive,and increasing
regulatory restrictions are being imposed on
their use.
Much of tbe current momentum toward c(
posting organic material rather than bury
it in the ground was generated in the 1
1980sand continuesin this decadeas a re:
of numerous statesbanning yard trimmil
from the landfill. The raw material flow
our industry is presently supported by I
legislation. Dependenceon it is fraught v
peri1for the unprepared.
Although the laws continue to stand, :
no statehas completely rescindeda ban, th
is always the chance that a large, WC
organized and better-funded industry gr(
will see composting as a threat and succe
fully lobby legislators to remove the lawy
CarolineRepenningis presidentof GreenCycle,Inc., GreenCycleof Indianaand GreenCycleof
Northeast,Inc. Sheis alsovice presidentanda director of GreenCycle of Georgia, Inc. She mana
these businesses from GreenCycle, Inc.‘s offíces in Northfield, Illinois.
Resour-ce Recycling June 1997 E
For example, the effect of a landfill ban is
to reduce landfill revenuesby an average of
20 percentin the U.S. Large haulersand landti11owners had been looking for an opportunity to eliminate the yard trimmings ban in
Indiana. A few years ago, they felt they had
found a window of opportunity. As a result
of lobbying efforts, Indiana law was modified, severely limiting the types of organic
materials banned from the landfill. Fortunately, GreenCycle has been successful in
finding alternative sources of appropriate
compostable material.
Be able to clearly explam the
benefits of compost
Well-made compost looks like dirt. It generally contains about 1 percent nitrogen, which
is a small amount in camparison with most
commercial fertilizers. On the surface,it may
not appear to be the valuable product it is.
Therefore. the composterneedsto clearly explain the follo\sing benefits:
n Compost is humus. the organic portion of
topsoil that provides topsoil with its richnessand fertility.
n Compost provides a significant amount of
non-Durmngmrrogen wnen appueo ar avY
erage rates.
W Compost’s ability to retain water --fíve
to 10 times its weight - reducessusceptibility to drought.
n The active microbes in compost improve
soil texture, reduce compaction and erosion, and have been shown to suppress
some diseases.
n The composting processheatscompost to
temperaturesthat are capable of eliminating plant pathogens,human patbogensand
weed see& in a few days, and it maintains
thesetemperaturesfor many weeks.
With this understanding, it is easy to convey to customerstbe understandingthat compost is an outstanding soil amendment at a
vety favorable ptice.
Get the word out
Armed with these facts, the next step is to
spread the word to potential buyers. GreenCycle usesnumerous strategies. We’ve given lunchesat our sites to convince our neighbors that the composting processneed not be
dirty and odorous, and that the end product
is attractive. We’ve also distributed composting cuniculum kits to teachers, participated in museum events, sponsored schooi
essaycontestsand donated compost to nonprofit beautification projects.
Go to the customer
WECANFINTHAT.
Plastics
maybetough,butSSIshredders
areeventougher.
Pre-processing
with ourshredders
canmeanincreased
granulator
throughput,
lower
processing
costsandlessmaintenance...
evenin monster
applications:
purgings/ti,fikrs/bales;
lqe moldedobjects.
H Shredders 5-500 HP n ElectrMfydraufic
Drive
n Increased lhroughput n Increased Nade Life
n Shredder/canulator
Integrated Systems
Circle
M
Resource Recycling
179 on RR service
June1997
s!stif
People.Systems.
Solutions.
card
In addition to telephone solicitation and direct saleseffort, displaying compost
products
at trade shows run by local or regional associations representinggolf course superintendents, landscapecontractors and turf growers has beenan effective marketing tool. Participating in shows that cover a larger area
than a producer can serve has proven expensive and wasteful.
Find out what the customer’s problems
are. By asking, we found that one of our
golf course customers was dissatisfied with
the material his crew used to repair divots.
We created a new product for that applica(ion, and found a completely new market.
The results of these efforts is that, in Indianapolis, our most established area, the demand for compost and the prices we can
command for it have risen steadily from year
to year.
Even low-end
be marketed
material
can
In the compost process, the residuàl from
screeningfine-textured compost is generally
discarded. In recycling wood products, occasional batches do not meet color, size or
cleanliness standards. We’ve found we can
still move this material by promoting it as
“free mulch.” It is perfectly acceptable fo1
some applications, and giving it away (we
charge a loading fee) creates traffic in our
sales area, which frequently results in sales
of other products.
I
at av- five
SCCP-
Compc&lg, as well as interest hl C5mp0stis &-easing dueto a number of factors:
nez is growing recognition and appreciatjm of&e envimnmen@land m
benefits of compost production and use; there
a n~llS
economicsW%SsStoriesfrom
e&irlg compostitlgOpeKitiOllS;
many com~toperationsaremakinghighq~commercially rnarketablewmpost produds; and
r& cmposting industIy has successfullydevelopeda range of pmduct markets. Moreover, there is a growing recognition of the
valueof wmposting as a waste-nutrientmanagement technology and as a tool for improving public health where problems have
arisenfrom inadequatemanagement of organic W~S@S - particttk~ly
in developing
wuntries.
As we en& the 21st Century and a new
era of wmpost pmduction and utiI&tion, a
numberof strategia can be implem
for
building on current successes,&d expandingfhe y0l-u of composting.
,;,&,M&&,&&
products d b commer‘%iaIIlymarketednecessitatingincreasíngfoctu on prodnction of wnsistent, h&hqu&
ty q$z&!. ,Development
ofprodact qualitysC8naar<[email protected])wiII~
sumwnsumerc&andmotivatecom.
ing,
x-we
I ero-
press
10%to
ninat1sand
ltains
) CORcomlt at a
) is to
ireen2 givleighnot be
oduct
comarticichool
) non-
nd diXiLlCtS
1assointengrow;. Pal‘r area
:xpenblems
3f our
1 with
livots.
lplicaarket.
I Indihe deJe can
n year
1 from
ierally
LS,oc;ize or
ve can
g itas
de for
~y(we
in our
I sales
strategj
Of al1the decisionsfacing a composter, pricing (he products and services is among the
most di&ult becauseof the many factors that
must be considered. Tipping fees generally
have to be lessthan the price at the local landfil1 - yard trimmings ban or not - unless
the landfill is much farther away and trucking costsbecome a consideration. On occasion, we are flooded with an incoming material and are forced to raise the tipping price
to control the flow.
Product sale prices are dependent upon,
among other factors, the quality of local spil.
In areas where soil has a high clay content
and very little organic matter, our products
are much more valuable. And the more local
customersuse our products. the more value
they attribute to them. As a res&, our prices
are increasingyear by year.though this is likely to leve1off. It should be clear that pricing
decisionsare extremely dependent upon local customers.
posters to market only those products that
meet basic,market-specifícrequirements.
The fertilizer industry, with its established customerbaseand distribution/application infrastructure, is logically poised to
embrace compost as a new product line,
thereby providing customers with organic
and inorganic materials to meet both nutrient and soil amendmentrequirements,and
creatingnew oppottunitiesfor wmpost production and sales.
A key to expanding agricuItural markets for compost (i.e., where potential demand exceedspotential supply) will be to
quantify the non-nutrient economic benefits of wmpost &lization. Coordination of
researchefforts will avoid duplication of efforo and optimize the uses of diminishing
funds available to support agricultura1 reseach.
Giventhe&easedfocusonwmmerGal
xnarketingof highquality wmpost pmducts,,
feedstock cooperatives and coordmated
co-composting operations can be estab-
lished.
Beyond the agronomic and envimnmental benefits, composting can addresspublic
health problems resulting from inadequate
organic waste managementsystems-particularly in urban areasin many developing
wnmies.
Improved managementof organic materials is neededglobally, asthesematerialsare
essentialto maintining the viability of our
soil and water resourcesand the producti+e
capacityof our agricultuml and forestry systems. Composting will servean incnzasingly important role in theseefforts, provided
key issuesand opportunitiesare understood
’tiunci¿ L4leamdrio. VNpulial. For more infoi
Jnnovarivefztrategiesto involve citizeh
in wq.L&&..$
public amGdenceia ““d
production and use.
In areas of concentration of organic
wastes/by-products(e.g., clusters of intensive livestock production near agri-processing operations andfor municipalities),
.. .
Develop a pricing
PEOPLE
THE EARTH
REALLY
MACHINE.
COMPOSTING COORDINATOR,
CENTER FOR ECOLOGICAL TECHNOLOGY
PITTSFIELD,MASS.
Use it or lose it. Truer words were never
spoLen when it comes to o bockyard
composting program.
If the residenk don’t use it, oll the benefits,
environmental, economic and palitical, are iost.
Residenk LOVE The Earth Mach&
and they
use it; because it WORKS.
Conclusion
Marketing compost products is no different
from marketing any other product. It should
be high-quality and consistent, and there
must be a demonstrable,valuable use for the
product. Through product education, and
through product innovation based on custemer needs,a base of steady customers can
be built.
RR
Circle
274 on RR service
card
Resource Recycling
June 1997e