Orlando, Florida-based Sustainable Green Team Ltd. says its subsidiary Mulch Manufacturing Inc. has been awarded a 2022 mulch packaging contract renewal with retailer The Kroger Company’s Louisville, Kentucky, division. The agreement continues the company’s current contract to supply and service 114 Kroger stores.

“We are excited to continue our relationship with Kroger again in 2022 and look forward to assisting them with their year-over-year continued sales growth in the Louisville division’s mulch and soil program,” says Paul Stolly, Mulch Manufacturing’s vice president of sales and marketing. “Our recognized brand and quality products keep consumers coming back each year to purchase mulch and soil products from Kroger’s stores.”

Sustainable Green Team Ltd. describes itself as a wholesale manufacturer and supplier of wood-based mulch and lumber products derived from providing arbor care and storm recovery services at the residential, commercial and municipal levels and by offering “green waste solutions to large- and small-scale waste disposal and recycling companies” in the southeastern United States.

Lebanon, Ohio-based Fecon has introduced its new RK6015 mulcher, the width of the head has been designed for use with “most standard skid steer loaders,” according to the company.

The RK6015 can be matched with Avant-type wheel loaders and other carriers able to provide 17-to-27 gallons per minute (gpm) of hydraulic flow; that have enclosed cabs that can be properly protected with the appropriate polycarbonate guarding; and that have the ability to carry the 1,465-pound attachment.

The brush cutting tool is ideal for rental fleets, according to Fecon, as well as landscapers, property managers, municipalities and others “tasked with managing brush and vegetation.”  

For several decades, the Washington-based Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) has conducted a semantics campaign to stress that scrap is not waste and that recyclable materials are secondary commodities.

This publication has been a steady supporter of this message, with its editorial staff trying earnestly not to use the word “waste” interchangeably with scrap, secondary commodities or other words that convey many discarded materials have value. (My colleague DeAnne Toto stated the case perfectly just this July.)

Despite considerable successes to this campaign’s credit, ISRI reportedly is considering changing or updating its phrasing concerning recyclable materials and how to best distinguish them from landfill- or incinerator-bound waste.

A suggestion from this corner is the term “circular commodities.” Like the word “sustainability,” the phrase “circular economy” seems to have staying power and to be recognized as a good thing by people and governments around the world.

Unfortunately, the terms “scrap” and “secondary commodities” each have shortcomings. In many peoples’ minds, something that is scrapped is being written off. In those same minds, something secondary could be considered second rate.

A circular commodity label fends off these connotations. Gaining unanimous backing for any policy is an unlikely prospect. In the current climate, however, sustainable and circular policies tend to gain considerable support.

The rephrasing is by no means a panacea. Governments and policy advocates who want to restrict trade in and financial support for circular commodities (for perceived environmental or protectionist reasons) will continue to do so.

Circular commodities in 2021 are establishing new and higher price benchmarks, including in the oft-criticized plastics recycling sector. That has not stopped recycling critics from staying on the attack. China has prohibited many circular materials despite the fact their residue levels are significantly below those of metal ores or concentrates. Malaysia may essentially follow China’s lead.

Advocacy for keeping raw materials closer to home also is a trend gaining momentum around the world. It must be noted that rephrasing alone will not stop all policies or corporate decisions made in the wider economic and policy arenas.

A form of linguistic high ground, however, could be a welcome result of a term such as circular commodities. Making a public case against materials circularity—reuse and recycling and the resource conservation it entails—becomes trickier than lobbying against waste, scrap or secondary materials.

To those of us in the industry, all those terms may mean the same thing, and we’re comfortable with the old terminology. In the policy arena, though, words are twisted and manipulated, and recyclers and traders seem to be in need of some keener phrasing.

Stertil-Koni, a Stevensville, Maryland-based provider of heavy-duty bus and truck lifts, announced that it has expanded its network of exclusive distributors across North America with the addition of Bolduc Mechanical Services.

Established in 1985, Bolduc Mechanical Services will cover an exclusive territory for Stertil-Koni heavy-duty vehicle lifts, accessories and shop equipment that includes Connecticut, Vermont, as well as Franklin and Berkshire counties in Massachusetts.

The fit for both Stertil-Koni and Bolduc Mechanical Services is particularly strong given each company’s core strengths, technical expertise and focus on service, Steril-Koni says.

“Our primary mission is simple: First and foremost, we are in the safety business,” Dennis Bolduc, president and owner of Bolduc Mechanical Services, says. “We want to make absolutely certain that every shop technician using our equipment goes home safely.

“As part of that effort, we are driven to provide the very best heavy-duty vehicle lifts, and that is why we are aligned with Stertil-Koni.”