A1 Organics, a diverse recycling company in Eaton, Colo., has catapulted its longtime dedication to quality recycling services into a successful portable grinding division.
The company, which dubs itself “Colorado’s Leader in Organic Recycling,” has evolved from small beginnings in sheep manure composting into a multi-site, multi-service recycling company that composts agricultural feedstock, brewery waste, yard waste, tree trimmings, scrap wood, pallets, food waste, waxed cardboard and biosolids. Since establishing the business in 1974, A1 Organics has become an organic recycling leader in the Rocky Mountain region.
Headquartered at the original family’s 160-acre homestead in Weld County and with an additional site in Arizona, A1 Organics produces in excess of 400,000 cu. yd. of compost, mulch and soil amendments each year.
Meeting environmental and community stewardship has driven much of A1 Organics’ development, including its wood-grinding services.
“The need was initially an internal one,” says Kent Pendley, COO. “Commercial landscapers, residents and other wood waste-generating types of businesses around our industrial operations needed an alternative to landfills for their wood waste. That led to our decision to accept and process wood waste in 1992.”
One of A1 Organics’ first external grinding customers was MillerCoors, which has several brewery sites in Golden, Colo. A1 Organics was already providing recycling services to the company. Adding wood waste grinding as a service was a natural fit.
“A1 Organics has pioneered much of the organic recycling efforts in Colorado,” Pendley says. “That began with recycling biosolids in partnership with MillerCoors. We determined it would be more cost effective to bring our grinder to their facility in Golden to grind accumulated wood waste. That allowed for moving a smaller number of trailers of ground material as opposed to trucking loose, bulky-type wood waste.”
Gathering the grinders
During one stretch, A1 Organics utilized a Morbark 6600 horizontal grinder to process wood waste. When the company reshaped its physical locations to increase efficiency and reduce operating sites to a total of three, it purchased a Morbark 1300B tub grinder and has continued to utilize that model, buying a fourth new one at the close of 2014.
All internal and external grinding needs are now serviced with the 1300B.
“Use of a portable grinder allows us to service each of our own three sites in a scheduled sequence at the same time that we schedule contract work and awarded bids and contracts for one-time service,” Pendley says. “Among the features of this grinder that we appreciate is the grapple attachment, which allows both the supporting loader operator and grinder operator to feed the machine. This increases grinding efficiency on high-volume jobs.”
The grinder’s climate-controlled cab allows the operator to work safely and comfortably and have a wide-angle view of the work being done in and around the grinder, A1 Organics adds. Gauges and electronic screens automatically monitor the grinder’s performance, immediately notifying the operator of any machine performance or drifting issues.
Also, through a cellphone connection, a satellite link in the machine directly connects the grinder’s performance statistics to an online diagnostic program to identify the need for any immediate maintenance.
“We have two long-term quality associates, John Vasquez and Miguel Espino, who are dedicated to management and maintenance of all our internal and external grinding services,” Pendley says. “John is beginning his 24th year at A1 and Miguel is in his 21st year here. Having two operators who take complete ownership of the responsibility and working knowledge of the grinding equipment and grinding processes is invaluable. Anyone who operates large-scale grinding operations will appreciate the fact that these machines need daily care, maintenance and attention in order to prevent downtime or major malfunctions.”
Because Vasquez and Espino perform daily maintenance and complete any repair and service on the grinder, A1 Organics is able to deliver consistent service times, as well as the on-time grinding performance it offers in contracts.
“That means customer rates are consistent with contracts,” Pendley says. “Our crew also has an effective process for cleaning up behind the grinding team once they leave a jobsite. Work is performed as specified in the contract, and grounds are left in a condition acceptable to the customer.”
Another partner in A1 Organics’ grinding services is the company’s local Morbark dealer, Power Motive Corp. A1 Organics relies on the dealer’s trained technicians in both Denver and Milliken, Colo., for equipment expertise.
“Our dealer also maintains a full line of wear parts and emergency parts for our Morbark grinder,” Pendley says. “Morbark Corp. in Michigan has also continued to provide us with excellent customer service, follow-up and support whenever it’s needed.”
Collaborative efforts
comfortably.
As A1 Organics’ wood-grinding services developed, the company recognized an opportunity to partner with municipalities located in its region. A1 Organics established drop-off yards within city limits, giving residents and local landscapers the opportunity to drop off material as opposed to sending it to landfills.
“A1 has many long-standing contracts with original cities in this program that have continued to do business with us since the inception of our grinding service,” Pendley says. “We have also established agreements with several municipalities to provide grinding services for their disaster-recovery plans. We’ve been actively involved in several flood cleanup projects, early- or late-winter storms that took down trees and limbs, as well as storm recovery from hail and wind storms.”
A number of municipalities in A1 Organics’ region added wood-waste grinding services to recovery-response plans. A1 Organics supports those who seek its services.
“Once we started providing grinding services to municipalities, we identified contractors in those areas that were clearing land and completing reclamation projects,” Pendley says. “They gather wood waste on the project site, and we come in and grind and haul the material. It’s a common practice now with many contractors here to include on-site grinding and hauling in their job proposals, as opposed to hauling unground material to either beneficial use or to landfills.”
Since pioneering its recycling services, A1 Organics has seen several competitors follow its lead.
“We relish competition,” Pendley says. “It keeps us on top of the game, involved in our customer needs and continuing to challenge ourselves with improved efficiencies and new innovations.”
A1 Organics has benefited from lower fuel prices but trucking and freight costs remain high, Pendley adds. The company continuously explores ways to improve its services.
“We spend time with our customers and help them understand what makes up the cost of their grinding services,” Pendley says. “It’s sometimes challenging to obtain all the pertinent information we need to accurately respond to requests for project quotes. Spec size is a common component customers tend to leave out of grinding-service requests. Throughput and efficiency greatly change between a 2-in.-minus spec and a 6-in.-minus spec.”
A1 Organics is also cautious to obtain a thorough description of the disposition of material to be ground.
“We aren’t able to be all things to all people,” Pendley says. “If a project volume doesn’t justify allocation of our resources or the job location makes our service financially unfeasible, we have elected not to bid.”
Resolve to solve
Among the services A1 Organics customers appreciate is the company’s effort to help resolve project issues, Pendley says. A1 Organics will help customers identify alternative options, such as stockpiling waste material from numerous sites in one location to reducing grinding costs.
A1 Organics also offers a pay-as-you-go option that eliminates the need for customers to store unprocessed material that would take up time, space and resources.
“We’ve been able to help two customers work together to produce one combined job, adding efficiency and reducing cost for everyone involved,” Pendley says. “We have also spent time with municipality officials to recommend changes to requests for pricing and quotes so estimates cover all elements of the project, again saving time, cost and any confusion that may otherwise result from misunderstanding the project scope.”
Pendley attributes much of A1 Organics’ success over the years to the leadership fourth-generation owner Chuck Wilson provides. In addition to setting a performance standard for employees, Wilson provides necessary equipment and capital to support employee success.
“When customers tell us what they appreciate about A1 Organics, we often hear the words ‘reliability,’ ‘consistency’ and ‘quality,’” Pendley says. “Price always plays a role in customer decisions, but our consistent results are our calling card. I attribute that to Chuck’s commitment to providing for company needs, high-quality equipment and employee dedication. All those things together provide attributes customers appreciate and don’t mind paying for.”
Loretta Sorensen is a freelance writer in Yankton, S.D. She produces material on a variety of topics, serves as a ghostwriter, and has authored her own books.
Photo: A1 Organics