<b>2011 Profit Quest:</b> Re-using containers keeps trash bills down

Containers are separated into bins by size, so that they can be later cleaned and re-used.There’s a line on the monthly P&L statement that makes virtually every greenhouse operator cringe: Waste removal.

How can garbage cost that much?

It seems like the waste-disposal companies are committing grand larceny, but there’s nothing growers can do about it. Or is there?

Vineyard Gardens Inc. is located on Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. And residents of this island pay extra premiums for their waste removal. To avoid filling their dumpsters so quickly, Vineyard Gardens has started re-using a large number of containers.

“Martha’s Vineyard has a really big recycling program, but unfortunately they don’t want anything to do with plastic pots. It’s a real headache sometimes, but we try to re-use every container we can,” said owner Charles Wiley.

The company re-uses 4-inch pots, up to No. 7 containers.

“We don’t re-use 6 packs or cell packs, but we do re-use plug trays. They work pretty well,” Wiley said.

The 4-inch pots are stacked 10 or 15 high, and the stacks are sandwiched between trays, which keep them together. The company also has a simple system for sanitizing used containers.

“We basically just put a liner in a garbage can and fill it with a water/bleach solution. Then we dunk the pots in there. It’s basic, but it works,” Wiley said.

For more: Vineyard Gardens Inc., (508) 693-8511; http://vineyardgardens.net.

Specifics:
Name: Vineyard Gardens Inc.
Founded: 1981 in West Tisbury, Mass.
Production space: 36,000 square feet of greenhouse production, 5 acres of outdoor production.
Crops: Primarily annuals and perennials, also some tree and shrub production.
 

Quotable:
“The alternative to re-using pots is putting them in the dumpster, and that’s really expensive. Moving garbage off the island is really costly and we avoid it any way possible.”
– Charles Wiley