Landfill

Spring Cleaning

noreply@blogger.com (Landfill Staff) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 20:09:00 +0000

It doesn't seem possible that it is already the middle of April, 2013. I've had many thoughts that I wanted to bring here - and they just didn't make it. Probably the idea of spring cleaning is more known in our homes, but I know that landfill sites have cleaning to do too. As we approach spring I think many of our landfill customers are working on post-winter work. Seeding of slopes is on the mind of some. It's on our minds too, as one of the projects that kept me from writing was the run up to launching a new product.

Posi-Cube Seed and Soil Guard is among our new products. It is the landfill manager's friend when it comes to hydroseeding. It is easy to use - different in make up from any other hydroseeding medium. It doesn't require shredding or chopping to get it into your equipment. It doesn't settle and clog your equipment either - it's just plain easy. You'll seed more acres in less time.

Anyway, I'm falling into shameless promotional talk here. But I'm really excited at the thought of how much easier it will be for sites to use.

So what are you cleaning up this spring!

Other voices

noreply@blogger.com (Landfill Staff) — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 18:33:00 +0000

A recent article in MSW Management magazine presented the work of Marc Rogoff and Ed Hilton of SCS Engineers along with David Thompson of Wastech Services on the subject of ADC's. The work was done to get answers for Wastech's site in Canada that was facing the end of it's capacity, with the goal of helping them extend their life beyond a 2016 end date.

The article presents their look at a specific situation that needed an alternative cover - and a review of daily cover options in general - and how to calculate the savings and costs. In the end the determination was that an ADC could save money and add life to this landfill. What about your landfill? Are you covering with soil?

Click this link to check out the full article.

Time

noreply@blogger.com (Landfill Staff) — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 14:37:00 +0000

This has been a long summer already and we're only in the first week of August. Gearing up for Wastecon next week in Maryland it struck me how fast the time has flown this year. We have passed the half way mark on the year and before we know it the year will be gone.

Budget season is looming before most companies as we approach the fall. Moving your business forward, making the best choices, investing in what it takes to run a profitable business is important to every manager. We all need to take a hard look at where we can make our operations more efficient. We have been privileged for over 20 years now to help landfill managers with an alternate daily cover that can not only save them money and airspace, but also can be there for them when they face erosion, odors, dust, intermediate cover needs with a cost effective tool.

Thankful for each day! Let's make them count.

Dirt on the bottom line

noreply@blogger.com (Landfill Staff) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 17:39:00 +0000

Next week you have an opportunity to learn from someone who knows about soil's affect on your revenue. Neal Bolton (Blue Ridge Services, Inc.) is offering an online webinar on how soil affects your bottom line.

Neal's expertise can help you determine if there are places that you can reduce soil use and make more money.

Check out his site for more information.

Happy new customers

noreply@blogger.com (Landfill Staff) — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 19:12:00 +0000

It is such a privilege to help provide solutions, a new customer in the Northwest sent this along:

Just wanted to let you know that the Posi Shell is working great for us. We have been using latex paint in the mix since day 2 with no problems. We have had high winds, rain, snow and sun and not a single issue.

It makes the day better knowing.

Dust busting

noreply@blogger.com (Landfill Staff) — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 12:54:00 +0000

In the last two weeks we conducted some field testing of Posi-Shell Clear on haul roads in New York, Utah, and Louisiana. The results were promising - in Louisiana where our customer has to water continuously he found a significant reduction - and rewetting of the product did perform as we thought it would.
We will keep you posted on the progress - but are already offering and selling Posi-Shell Clear for application through water trucks or hydroseeding units, so if you have some dust that needs to be knocked down don't hesitate to give us a call.
Check out the photos here - taken in Louisiana... before, later that afternoon, and application process. If you want to know more give us a call.

Nothing is too hard for Posi-Shell

noreply@blogger.com (Landfill Staff) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:38:00 +0000

If you have tippers or other hard to cover areas that make the end of the day cover job hard - take a look - Posi-Shell can be easily spray-applied and clean up those problem areas.

Yakima County will put waste to work at landfill | Yakima Herald-Republic

noreply@blogger.com (Landfill Staff) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:23:00 +0000

Yakima County will put waste to work at landfill Yakima Herald-Republic

When change is worth the pain, reflections at year's end.

noreply@blogger.com (Landfill Staff) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 19:24:00 +0000

New Year's resolutions, we've all made them. Usually they involve some change we want to make in our life to improve it. Change is never easy, but the resulting improvements provide the reward we need to keep going till we can make that change a habit we can maintain. Stopping to take time to reflect on our personal life is important.

Reflecting and contemplating change for an operation or organization is an even greater challenge and equally important. The manager who reflects on his business, and looks at the big picture, cares just like an individual who is steward of his body. If as a business we want to reach larger goals, have a smoother operation, or make more money it will only happen if we make changes to our operation. It doesn't work to expect different results from the same operation.

Why do we make resolutions to exercise or eat more healthy? We do it because our bodies will run better, we won't be tired and sluggish, we will be able to accomplish more in our days. So it is with a business. Changes won't be without pain, but the end results will be worth it.

What changes do you want to make going into the New Year? Take time this week to consider what it might take to improve your operation, then be willing to overcome the pain it might take to achieve that goal.

Customer finds savings significant

noreply@blogger.com (Landfill Staff) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 13:45:00 +0000

This article highlights how Posi-Shell is making a difference in a North Carolina customer's landfill.

Profitability and maintenance

noreply@blogger.com (Landfill Staff) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 20:12:00 +0000

Maintenance often gets a bad rap. By definition maintenance is the process of preserving something or someone. My own experience in learning the value of maintenance stems from my husband of 30 years who has done a great job maintaining my car and so much more. Along the way he also taught our children the value of maintenance (a favorite story they tell is about the time they left their bicycle out in the rain and they had to stand in the rain to see how they liked being left outside in the elements). Maintenance usually comes at a price sometimes time, sometimes money - often both.

The recent issue of MSW Management magazine (Nov/Dec 2011 page 22) has an article titled "The Profitability and the Art of Landfill Equipment Maintenance". It highlights that the size of a landfill's fleet of equipment requiring maintenance will be governed in part by what type of cover operation they choose.

Recently in our office here we have been studying the cost of maintaining various pieces of landfill equipment, specifically to study what kind of savings are available to a landfill that opts for Posi-Shell as their daily cover. It is significant. When you can greatly reduce the hours of use on a haul truck (or two), a dozer, scraper, loader, or excavator the process of preserving your fleet is much easier.

Daniel Duffy's article does a great job of highlighting how best to protect your equipment in the harsh landfill environment. He quoted Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. "Another flaw in the human character is that everybody wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance." If you want less maintenance - use a system that requires less equipment.

Making the most of your landfill

noreply@blogger.com (Landfill Staff) — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 14:08:00 +0000

When it comes to landfills, technology is opening many doors both reducing the amount of material going into a landfill and the harvesting of resources from a landfill. Making the most of the landfill as a resource includes taking care in the filling. Soil layers from daily cover or intermediate cover take up valuable space, reducing the amount of material coming in, reducing the amount of compaction a landfill can achieve, and often interfering with the movement of leachate and gas.

Reducing the amount of soil going into landfill cells opens the door to greater revenues. Moving soil can be a significant expense in terms of manpower, equipment, and fuel use.

At Wastecon coming up in August we will be serving up dirt at our booth #609. Stop by and have a cup, and talk with us about your landfill. We'd love to learn what you are doing to make the most of your resource.

For the Birds

noreply@blogger.com (Landfill Staff) — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 15:09:00 +0000

A problem common to most landfills are birds, digging in the trash, messing things up, generally being a nuisance. At Waste Expo this year, just a couple isles from us we could see a bird on a pole - and in the Waste & Recycling News that I got today I see they did an article on that bird. It seems that Predatech - the company who had the booth - have created this battery operated bird to mimic the look, sound, and movement of a live falcon. Falcons as birds of prey have been effectively used by some landfills to help deter the nuisance birds. However not every landfill has the right people available to host a live bird deterrent program. Now there is a new option. Predatech created this robot bird.

Just thought we would put this out in case you hadn't see the information. If you need a new way to combat nuisance birds - check them out at www.predatech.ca .

The Landfill Manager's Biggest Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Landfill Staff) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 13:46:00 +0000

In a conversation recently with a customer who manages a municipal landfill that gets no tax dollars - his response to a question about his biggest challenge told a lot about him. His concern was for his people - his employees. In order to secure for them a workplace he needed to make sure his site had the volume of waste to generate the needed revenue to keep a working environment possible. This means doing what they can to be competitive in a price dominated market. He looks to save and cut costs and run an efficient operation. Both the products they choose to use, and the way they run their operation contribute to that efficiency.

His concern for them changes the way they view their work. He spoke of employees who take pride in their work - in caring for the equipment they operate. They are all doing their part to make for an efficient operation - everyone's jobs depend on it.

The way I see it, there is a push for efficiency and cost cutting that will meet acceptance and cooperation. May they all succeed.

New Equipment Release

noreply@blogger.com (Landfill Staff) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 15:29:00 +0000

This week our newest Applicator in the line was released - the PSA-1000. We are excited to be able to offer equipment to meet the needs of our customers that will benefit their operations. The reserve water tank, with it's own pumping unit - makes for easy cleaning of not only the Applicator - but also anything else you want to clean with a pressure wash. Our Posi-Tru Ground Clearance will enable this unit to go to the places where it is needed.

If you are in need of an application unit for spray-applied products give us a call. Details will be posted to our website shortly - but for now our staff can tell you all about this great applicator.

A landfill IS a terrible thing to waste

noreply@blogger.com (Landfill Staff) — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 17:11:00 +0000

While looking for some images today I ran across one that was just some text that read "A landfill is a terrible thing to waste". It was a headline for a newsletter for the San Leandro area of California. They were writing about landfill diversion rates and such - but it made me thing back to our last post about the discussion about green waste. Certainly it is a terrible thing to waste landfill airspace with anything that could be used beneficially elsewhere - including green waste.

Things to think about

noreply@blogger.com (Landfill Staff) — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 14:43:00 +0000

Recently while traveling in California we were made aware of a discussion that is being had on the subject of green waste and its use as an alternate daily cover (adc). To read the whole article go to this link.

All uses of adc are to be commended as they striving to conserve precious soil and air resources. California has certainly led the way in promoting conservation in many different ways.

Leachate on the move

noreply@blogger.com (Landfill Staff) — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 19:52:00 +0000

At a recent regional Swana conference the discussion of one session centered around reducing or fixing leachate seeps. This problem of leachate breaking out of the landfill at a location not in the design is not uncommon. In "The Solid Waste Handbook" William Robinson states that "The use of heavier textured soils as daily cover may interfere with the downward movement of leachate and has resulted in the appearance of leachate seeps on the side of a landfill."
The Swana conference presenter, a regional engineer for a publicly held waste company, stated one effective way of preventing these seeps is to use an Alternate Daily Cover product - thereby avoiding those heavier soil layers that can interfere with the flow of leachate through the landfill and reducing soil usage.
Todd Green, of American Environmental commented that Posi-Shell made a big difference for their landfill in eliminating leachate breakouts allowing leachate to make it's way to the liner and recirculate more quickly.
The importance of keeping leachate within the landfill is vital to public water and safety, taking the needed steps to protect our water makes the issue of daily cover more than just a decision of preference.

What do customers say? It's Easy.

noreply@blogger.com (Landfill Staff) — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 12:53:00 +0000

Things are going wonderfully. Thanks so much for coming down to go through everything with Barry and me. It was very helpful. So far, Barry and I are still the only ones doing the Posi-shell. We plan to slowly work some of the other guys into it. We’re trying to find the right mixture for us as far as adding the paint is concerned. But honestly, we have been very happy with the ease and the time that it will free up. Thanks again for everything!

Marcie A. Smith

Quality people

noreply@blogger.com (Landfill Staff) — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 12:48:00 +0000

A recent comment received from a customer just reflects what we enjoy as a part of the team at LSC - quality people.

From an email:
Just wanted to let you know Scott finished up out here and he did an outstanding job. I bet it's nice to have someone of his caliber working for LSC. Very cordial, polite, and technically very thorough!

Thanks again to all!

Respectfully,

Brian Van Straten|Operations Manager|Buena Vista Landfill Recycling & Solid Waste Services Operations

Quality people make all the difference.

A celebration of 20 years

noreply@blogger.com (Landfill Staff) — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:54:00 +0000

The City of Albany Landfill, run by Joe Giebelhaus is a model of best practices in the modern landfill. Last week I got to see for myself as we went there to celebrate the 20 years we have provided the Posi-Shell product to the City of Albany Landfill for use as daily cover, intermediate cover and much more. The site has grown over the years from the "old days" of unlined landfilling practices. Today you will find there a modern lined landfill, with shredding capabilities to process those items that would otherwise decrease the ability to compact and place the waste efficiently. A well organized site with different locations to deposit waste of different types for proper processing makes the motion of the site smooth. Landfill gas is being captured and utilized to create electricity, and has been for years now. GPS software allows not only the operator to monitor the compaction beneath him, but management from the office can observe the movement as well, allowing them to properly plan as waste streams into the facility from many sources.

It was great to hear about the planning that is going into the future for this facility. Native trees and plants are going to begin to be grown there as they develop a nursery to eventually populate a preserve over the landfill as it moves into a closed state.

Today's landfill manager needs to be a person of many skills; people skills in managing the large crew required to staff such an operation, engineering skills to plan and organize the construction projects that are constant, business skills to make the best financial decisions to allow a facility to be profitable, and vision to plan ahead for a bright future as a facility closes and the space turns to a new life. Joe has shared his skills successfully in Albany and we count it a privilege to provide tools he can use.

Posi-Shell on Display

noreply@blogger.com (Landfill Staff) — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 17:56:00 +0000

On Tuesday, August 10th we were one of a select few vendors invited to a nationwide Waste Connections’ managers meeting held at one of their facilities near Denver, Colorado. Thanks again to the team at WCN for this invitation, as opportunities like this (live demonstration in one place for so many decision makers) are rare. We demonstrated our Posi-Shell Environmental coatings and set up one of our Solar-Spark Vent Flares as a static display.

Our Central and Western Regional Sales Managers, Jim Shumsky and JD Carter put in a lot of time bringing their demonstration units to the site and did a phenomenal job of showing our stuff. The day prior to the demo, they applied a panel of our long-term product and were able to show first-hand it’s durability because it rained like cats and dogs immediately after they applied it and on into the evening! This photo taken the next morning shows that NONE of the Posi-Shell washed!

Jeff, the manager for Waste Connections in charge of coordinating the event, did an awesome job as everything seemed to go off like clockwork. On Tuesday morning two tour buses arrived with a small army of the nation’s top landfill managers coming to check out various landfill products being demonstrated. One of our demo units contained a short-term (for overnight/week long cover) version of Posi-Shell and the other unit had the long-term version (multi-month/year cover).

Everybody seemed duly impressed with how quickly and efficiently Posi-Shell covered. When they were made aware that the overnight cover they were seeing costs less than a penny a square foot and that standard hydroseeding units can be used to apply it, the requests for site specific demonstrations started piling up.

Submitted by Joel Lanz - President

Problem solving

noreply@blogger.com (Landfill Staff) — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:14:00 +0000

"Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers." Voltaire

The current economy is pushing everyone to cut costs. Managers looking over their whole operation with an eye to cutting costs are challenged to put all of their problem solving skills into action. It is so important for each of us to have a large perspective when seeking answers. Remembering to look at situations from different angles, asking tough questions, and changing our perspective will give us an advantage. Keeping a broad perspective will definitely influence how you approach a problem - and it's final outcome.

Abraham Maslow said "If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail."

Take some time this week to stretch your mind, find one of the books out there just for that purpose. One you might consider "Mind Boggling one-minute Mysteries and Brain teasers". It's just a fun book but it will challenge you to think and just maybe it will help you gain the perspective you need.

Rain Shield in Vietnam

noreply@blogger.com (Landfill Staff) — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 15:48:00 +0000

Vietnam Waste Solutions operates a major modern landfill serving Ho Chi Minh City. Posi-Shell ADC and odor control coatings are an integral part of the daily operations at this site.

Southern Vietnam experiences a monsoon climate with daily heavy rains during the wet season, lasting throughout the summer. Landfill Service Corporation developed Xtreme Rain Shield tm to meet the challenge of providing a water based spray-on ADC which will not wash away in immediate heavy rain.

Field trials were conducted at the Da Phuoc Landfill in Ho Chi Minh City during July, 2009. Several possible mixtures were applied; complete success was achieved with the "monsoon" mixture which held up extremely well after an immediate heavy rain, and the cover remained intact after over 7 inches of rainfall over the following several days.

LSC now offers Xtreme Rain Shield tm in several mixtures tailored to specific climate requirements, ranging from temperate North American conditions with occasional rainfall, to Asian monsoon climates with daily heavy rain.

This product works!

Living up to your word - Xtreme Rain Shield tm in Asia

noreply@blogger.com (Landfill Staff) — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 15:24:00 +0000

It had taken well over a year to bring to fruition an opportunity for Landfill Service Corporation to demonstrate their Posi-Shell Cover System for a large environmental firm operating one of the solid waste landfills in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. Due to encroaching populations, the engineers and managers of this well run facility conducted extensive international investigations for products to enhance the existing gas odor control measures already in place. They had become convinced that Posi-Shell, with it’s long history in this arena, would work for their situation as well. Additionally, they recognized Posi-Shell’s other numerous uses as well such as Alternate Daily Cover, Erosion Control, and Hydroseeding.

However, the Asian climates and weather conditions posed a serious challenge for a product, such as Posi-Shell, that is spray-applied and requires curing time. RAIN, lots of it, lots of the time!

After several months of working out the logistics involved with an overseas demonstration of this magnitude, LSC representatives departed in mid-September armed with their standard tool, Posi-Shell Advanced Formulation, but for this trip they would also be utilizing a newly developed additive called Xtreme Rain Shield, which had been developed for situations just like this. Xtreme Rain Shield is a cellulosic polymer additive, in layman’s terms, the product gives Posi-Shell an increased resistance to heavy rains…even before it has cured.

Having performed well during several field evaluations and a few commercial installations, the LSC team was confident in Xtreme Rain Shield’s ability to live up to it’s name, but had really only tested it up to a two inch rain, in a ten minute time span immediately after application. By demonstrating in September in Hong Kong, it appeared that simulated rainfall may be required (spraying water out of a hydroseeding unit), since the summer typhoon season was “technically” over in that region. The team welcomed this notion as controlled testing is better than testing left to the elements.

As things go, however, a latent typhoon had been lurking out on the Sea of China and decided to make landfall at the landfill the very first day of the demonstration! The first demo load was applied to this slope early afternoon Monday (photo 1), while the rain was beginning to come down in earnest (photo 2). Shortly thereafter everybody was sent to their homes or hotels as the storm intensified and continued through noon the next day. Overnight, it reached signal 8, which can have sustained winds up to 116 mph. Fortunately no major damage was inflicted in Kowloon or at the landfill, other than a few downed trees and several thousand square feet of a protective rain cover which was torn away by the wind.

Tuesday afternoon, when the team returned to the site, there was a short moment of suspense while heading to their demonstration panel, as they had just been told by the landfill engineer that over four inches of rain had fallen during the storm. To their relief though, he followed up by saying “…but the Posi-Shell looks pretty good”. Photo 3 shows the product after the storm. The dark streaks are areas where slight washing occurred, although not completely through to the soil beneath the cover. The landfill staff concluded that the washing probably only amounted to about five percent. A huge success given the fact that there was zero cure time before the rains started pounding it!