MIAMI -- Harvey Schneider, president of Florida Wood Recycling Inc., won't reveal his mulch recipe. But it must be something like this:
Take a half-ton of old pallets and 2-by-4s from a pile the size of a three-story condo. Add 400 or so pounds of dead Australian pines and ficus stumps from another monstrous mound. Chomp and grind. Color with iron oxide. Bag in 2-cubic-foot lots and voila! It's Classic Red Mulch, one of three mulches made by the Medley firm that also turns Florida's worn-out lumber and timber into wood chips and compost for topsoil.
"I don't believe in cutting down trees for mulch," said Schneider, who has three decades of recycling experience. Mulch keeps weeds down, slows water evaporation and disintegrates into an organic fertilizer.
Workers on the 6.1-acre site across from a Waste Management Inc. landfill recycle 15,000 to 20,000 cubic yards a month. The firm's several-hundred customers include nurseries, landscapers and municipalities.
Florida Wood says its mulch costs less than that of competitors. And it enjoys a supply system most businesses can only envy: Construction crews, tree cutters and pallet recyclers pay Florida Wood to take loads of old trees and wood. Schneider charges between $2 and $6 a cubic yard, cheaper than landfill rates.
Schneider began his career hauling scrap and metal in Montreal, eventually opening H.S. Scrap Iron & Metal. Meanwhile, the Canadian government tapped Schneider to help develop recycling initiatives. He soon became partners with Shmuel Gniwisch.
Schneider, Gniwisch and three other partners started the Florida firm after obtaining a contract to supply chips to a power plant being built by a sugar factory near Lake Okeechobee.
By 1997 Florida Wood Recycling was up and running -- just as its star customer filed for debt reorganization. The sugar factory emerged from bankruptcy and remains a customer. But a lesson was learned.
"I prefer to have a diversified customer base as opposed to having one large customer," Schneider said.
Customers praise the firm for being consistent. "They are reputable and deliver what they say," said Jeff Reamer, the owner of Dixie Landscape Co. Inc., also in Medley.
Recycled wood mulch came under scrutiny several years ago when scientists realized that the chromated copper arsenate used to treat wood bound for outdoor use could remain in the mulch and be a hazard to children and pets.
Florida Wood Recycling rejects treated wood, said Schneider, and is rigorous in making sure that none gets into the production line, using both visual inspection and a stain that reveals the presence of copper.
Under a $150,000 state grant, Florida Wood is now working with Medley and University of Miami Associate Professor Helena Solo-Gabriele, an expert on treated wood, to test an X-ray method to diagnose contaminants. The research could teach other facilities how to achieve a cleaner used wood supply.
"If you can make money and do something positive for the community and environment, it is very rewarding," Schneider said.
