By DAN BLAKE
Because of the challenges involved with recycling traditional items such as paper, plastic and metal, Provo has turned to yard waste recycling.
People across the country from as far away as Arkansas have come to look at what Provo is doing, said Joni Trewartha, executive office assistant for Provo City Public Services. Some people have even come from Canada to look at the program and get ideas for implementation in their communities.
Yard waste can be dropped off at the Yard Waste Recycling Plant at 1400 S. Industrial Parkway. There is no fee for Provo residents, but a fee of $2.50 per pickup truck load is charged for businesses and nonresidents, said Alan Leftwich, foreman at the Provo City Yard Waste Recycling Plant.
In certain areas of Provo, green containers for yard waste are available, Trewartha said. These containers cost $5 per month and a yard waste recycling truck picks up these containers and takes the yard waste to the recycling plant.
During certain times of the year, the city makes special yard waste collections in residential neighborhoods for free, Trewartha said. Christmas trees are collected through January and leaves are collected during the fall.
One problem the recycling plant often faces is people putting inorganic materials with their yard waste. Rocks and scrap metal can cause a number of problems during the process, Leftwich said.
As yard waste is brought into the plant, it is sorted into two piles. One is grass clippings and the other is larger debris such as tree limbs. The debris is chipped and the piles are mixed, Leftwich said.
To make regular compost, a large pile is made from the yard waste mixture and it is mixed with water, Leftwich said. The pile is turned about two or three times per week in the composting process. The entire process takes about five or six months to complete.
After the process is completed, the compost is run through screens and the finer material is sold as compost and the material left over is sold as mulch, Leftwich said. The process for making biosolid compost is similar.
'Biosolids are a by-product of specially treated and disinfected water that may have originated from household or industrial waste water and storm water runoff,' according to a flier about the Provo recycling program.
The biosolids/yard waste mixture is composted at 55 degrees Celsius for a minimum of 15 days, according to the flier. After the composting process is complete, Provo sells the compost at the recycling plant for $15 a cubic yard.