Garbage Takes Shelter

Melanie A. Lasoff

Whether it's a tarp, a spray-applied foam, a slurry or a thermally degradable membrane, alternative daily landfill covers (ADC) serve the same purpose: to control disease, vectors, fires, odors, blowing litter and other overnight hazards.

Here is a sample of what's new in ADCs.

Airspace Saver Daily Cover, Baton Rouge, La., offers a high-density woven polyethylene material, manufactured by Fabrene Inc., North Bay, Ontario, Canada. The cover is heat-welded to a desired width and length. Straps are sewn around the perimeter of the tarp for added strength. Steel D rings are sewn onto each strap every 12 feet and on the corners. The tarps last between one and two years, according to the company.

Amcon Construction Products, Somerset, Ky., offers woven polypropylene, flame-resistant covers with a tight weave to allow water to flow over and off the cover while protecting the area under the fabric. The fabric helps to control oxygen movement and odors. Covers last about one year, and used covers can help to stabilize dirt-rock roads as well as to support materials within the cell.

AquaShed Technologies Inc., Florence, S.C., manufactures a fibrous spray-on slurry applied from a hydroseeder. The polymer material is made onsite from recycled post-consumer fibers and requires a three- hour cure time. The Takifier is a non-toxic, non-polluting polymer and is not water soluble. A water soluble formula costs about 1 cent per square foot, while the water-resistant formula costs about 3 cents per square foot, according to the company.

Central Fiber Corp., Wellsville, Kan., produces TopCoat, a single-bag system, which adheres to the Code of Federal Regulations requirements. The company does not require any contractual agreements.

Covertech, Etobiocoke, Ontario, Canada, offers the C-440 daily landfill cover, a woven fabric made of high-density polyethylene and coated on both sides with low-density polyethylene. It does not absorb water, allowing for wet and extreme cold applications. The tarp is reinforced with nylon strapping around the perimeter and in both directions every 12 feet, with strips extending over the hem with a D ring. It is available in a 20 millimeter thickness in both standard and fire-retardant grades, and lasts 10 to 18 months, according to the company.

Engineered Textile Products Inc. (ETP), Mobile, Ala., offers an ordering system for standard and custom fabricated covers that can be delivered in a few days. ETP's landfill cover incorporates quality fabrics, webbing for reinforcement and D rings for easy deployment. ETP offers fabrics varying in durability, water-resistance, fire retardation, air permeability, easy maintenance and cost.

Enviro Group Inc., Greenwood, Ind., manufactures Formula 480 Liquid Clay, a non-flammable, non-toxic and non-combustible ADC approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Washington, D.C. It is designed to work for erosion control, dust control and grass seeding projects.

EPI Environmental Products Inc., Conroe, Texas, offers the Enviro Cover System (ECS), an intermediate and long-term cover system primarily for landfills. ECS consists of the Enviro Cover, a 2-9 mil. degradable film, and the Enviro Cover Deployer (ECD), which unrolls and anchors the cover. On the deployment machine, the ballast used to anchor the plastic can be 6 inches or less. Hoppers also are enclosed for all-weather operation, according to the company. The ECD can be towed or attached to the blade of a prime mover.

In-Line Plastics, Houston, has the ADvantage Cover, a thermally degradable polyethylene film made of a filler and degradient in a polymeric resin carrier, which comes in 16 foot rolls in either a 2 mil. or 3 mil. thickness. The cover, designed to degrade when exposed to heat, water, ultraviolet light and oxygen, is applied in about 30 minutes with a Rapid Cover Machine (RCM) attached to either a dozer or a compactor. As the machine backs over the working face, soil is discharged from the RCM to anchor the film. At the end of each backing or run, the film then is cut and clipped to the front of the RCM. The ADvantage Cover is left in place the next day.

Landfill Service Corp., Apalachin, N.Y., offers Posi-Shell, a cement mortar ADC for daily/intermediate coverage, erosion and odor control, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) suppression, storm water management, hydroseeding and more, according to the company.

National Seal Co., Fluid Systems Division, Aurora, Ill., manufactures Sani-Cover daily cover. Features available include reinforced webbing around the perimeter, lift loops for deployment, standard and custom panel sizes and fire-retardant and waterproof material. Sani-Cover diverts rainwater away from the cell, preventing leachate generation, and protects against blowing debris, foraging animals and birds, odors and disease. As few as two or three laborers can install Sani-Cover, or it can be installed with equipment, according to the company.

New Waste Concepts Inc., Erie, Mich., features the ProGuard II spray-applied overnight cover. New Waste says its product covers 10,000 square feet in about 15 minutes, and meets all Subtitle D requirements. The cover controls litter and odor, and provides protection from the elements for less than 3 cents per square foot, according to the company.

Odin International Inc., Oconomowoc, Wis., and its Thor Division, Austin, Texas, manufacture ADCs that can be hand- or machine-applied, and cost less than 1 cent per square foot on average, according to the company. The impermeable, uncoated cover is a double-layer sandwich of material between two layers of 2-inch seatbelt webbing. Modular sections can be added or removed. Customers can choose from a range of base material and fabric techniques. Flame-retardant material also is available.

Reef Industries, Houston, offers Permalon, a high-density landfill cover for daily and long-term applications that can be manufactured in sizes of up to 1 acre.

Rusmar Inc., Westchester, Pa., manufactures Soil Equivalent Foam. Designed to exceed Subtitle D requirements, the foam remains moist to control dust and odors, capture blowing litter and control the movement of oxygen to prevent fires. Soil Equivalent Foam uses no airspace and can be applied with the company's self-propelled unit.

Synthetic Industries, Chattanooga, Tenn., features Geotex, a woven geotextile style 315ST. Once constructed in large panels and geommeted, this tarp can be deployed over the landfill's working face to minimize odors, infiltration and debris movement.

Tarpomatic Inc., Canton, Ohio, has a patented tarping system used at landfills of 30 tons per day (tpd) to 10,000 tpd. It hooks up to small or large dozers and compactors. The tarps have built-in weights to eliminate the need for tires to hold them down. Tarps do not need to be hooked up or pulled across the working face - the machine picks up the tarps as they are rolled out.

For a list of alternative daily cover manufacturers, see World Wastes Buyers' Guide, July 1998 issue or Waste Age's Buyers' Guide, November 1998. issue.