Running for Cover

Melanie A. Lasoff

With so many alternative daily covers (ADCs) on the market, landfill owners and operators might have a difficult time picking the best equipment for their particular needs. Waste Age offers a sampling of manufacturers' ADCs, including tarps, slurries and sprays.

Airspace Saver Daily Cover, Prairieville, La., offers high-density woven and coated polyethylene tarps manufactured by Fabrene Inc. The material is heat-welded to a desired width and length, and web straps are placed over each heat weld and around the perimeter of the tarp. Steel D-rings are sewn onto each strap every 12 feet and on each corner for easy hookup capability. The company also makes tarps that are compatible with the automatic tarp rolling machine by Tarpomatic, Canton, Ohio. Airspace says its tarps should last between 1 year and 2 years.

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

Aqua Shed Technologies Inc., Lexington, S.C., manufactures self-sealing compost liners and erosion control polymers. The company manufactures a fibrous spray-on slurry applied from a hyrdoseeder. The polymer material is made onsite from recycled post-consumer fibers and requires a three-hour cure time.

Central Fiber Corp., Wellsville, Kan., manufactures Topcoat, an ADC manufactured from post-consumer paper, chemicals and other proprietary ingredients that are non-toxic and biodegradable. Topcoat meets all federal regulations to the control disease vectors, fires, odors and blowing litter, according to the company.

Covertech Fabricating Inc., Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada, manufactures the C-440 daily landfill cover system with a life expectancy of 10 months to 12 months. The C-440 comes in sizes of 48 feet by 50 feet, or can be custom made to a landfill's specifications.

Engineered Textile Products Inc., Mobile, Ala., offers standard and custom fabricated daily landfill covers produced from coated and noncoated fabrics. Standard covers are available to ship within five working days and custom covers are shipped within 10 working days, the company states. Standard covers come in three sizes: 50 feet by 50 feet, 50 feet by 80 feet and 50 feet by 100 feet.

Enstar, Clinton, La., manufactures tarps with woven coated polypropylene materials in regular or flame retardant models. The most popular size is 50 feet by 50 feet, but custom sizes are available, according to the company.

Enviro Group Inc., Greenwood, Ind., offers Formula 480 Liquid Clay for daily or long-term cover. Approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Washington, D.C., the clay is non flammable, non toxic and non combustible, the company states.

EPI Environmental Products Inc., Conroe, Texas, offers the Enviro Cover System, a daily, intermediate and long-term system for landfills. The cover is made of a biodegradable film. The company also manufactures the Enviro Cover Deployer, which deploys the film and applies a 6-inch ballast to ensure proper placement.

Fluid Systems, Aurora, Ill., produces the Sani-Cover, designed to optimize airspace by covering compacted solid waste. It diverts rainwater away from the landfill cell and is designed to reduce leachate generation. Available features include reinforced webbing around the perimeter, lift loops for deployment, standard and custom panel sizes, and fire-retardant and waterproof materials.

ICM, Jacksonville, Ark., manufactures landfill covers, truck tarps and tarp accessories, as well as trash container liners.

In-Line Plastics, Houston, manufactures the Advantage cover, an ADC to leave in place that degrades by thermal temperature changes and exposure to sunlight. The cover is water soluble, according to the company. In-Line Plastics also offers the Rapid Cover Machine (RCM), which allows landfill operators to deploy the Advantage cover film in any environment.

Landfill Service Corp., Apalachin, N.Y., offers the Posi-Shell cover system, a spray-on cement slurry with fiber reinforcement. The material can be used for a daily or long-term cover, and for erosion control. Remediation and hazwaste applications also are appropriate for this system, states the company.

New Waste Concepts, Erie, Mich., introduces its newest ADC, ProGuard SB Single Bag System. Operators mix the single-bag blend of recycled fiber and polymers with water in the ConCover All Purpose Sprayer (CAPS) and spray it on. New Waste Concepts also manufactures ProGuard II Overnight Cover, a blend of engineered polymers and recycled fibers that form a slurry when mixed with water. The blended slurry can be sprayed up to 200 feet using the cannon mounted on the CAPS. ProGuard II is biodegradable, non-flammable and non-toxic, according to the company.

Rusmar Inc., West Chester, Pa., offers the AC-667SE Soil Equivalent Foam and self-propelled equipment for application. The foam remains moist to control dust and odors, capture blowing litter and control movement of oxygen to prevent fires, according to the company.

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

Tarpomatic, Canton, Ohio, has a tarping system that 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. The company also manufactures an automatic tarping machine (ATM) that is adaptable to dozers, compactors and rubber tire loaders. Portable controls are placed in the cab at the time of operation, eliminating employees' contact with the garbage. Main features of the ATM include a diesel engine, electrically controlled hydraulics, a hydraulic drive motor engaging system and a removable tube assembly.

Thor Division of Odin International, Austin, Texas, manufactures tarps with double layers of 2-inch seatbelt webbing of 5,000 pounds tensile strength per layer to 6,000 pounds tensile strength per layer. A patch kit also is available. Lifespans of the tarps range from six months for low-cost units to one to three years for heavy duty versions, according to the company.