Making Socks That Control Erosion ... And Prevent Landslides

In Business, May/June, 2004, Vol. 26, No. 3, p. 27

Ohio-based firm comes up with an alternative that uses compost to keep soil in place and contaminants out of water.

Dan Emerson

IN MAY 2002, the Federal Highway Administration's division found itself with a problem: a large landslide had taken out a 400-foot-by-100-foot section of the roadside along scenic Blue Ridge Parkway near Asheville, N.C. With a tourist-heavy July 4th weekend approaching, the agency not only needed to remove tons of rocks and dirt blocking the roadway, it also needed to prevent further slides or major erosion by reestablishing vegetation on the steep slope.
Rather than using traditional methods such as hydroseeding and silt fences, officials decided to try FilterSocks, a new erosion-control tool developed by a small firm Filtrexx, International, LLC. The new tool passed with flying colors. A 3-inch rainfall on the next-to-last day of installation resulted in only minor erosion on the roadside, some areas of which slope more than 45 degrees. The newly established vegetation also survived two months of dry conditions after the June 28th project completion.
Since Filtrexx developed its first FilterSock in 2000, the firm's compost-based products have been been used on over 4,000 projects, according to company founder Rod Tyler. Last year, it replaced more than a million feet of silt fence. The Grafton, Ohio-based company's website contains customer testimonials from the FHA, and state agencies in Colorado, Georgia, Tennessee, Maine, Pennsylvania and Iowa, among others.
The socks are made in 8, 12 or 18-inch-diameter sizes from a variety of materials including cotton, biodegradable plastic and high-density polyethylene. Porous enough to allow chemical, physical, and biological filtration, the socks have made it possible to use compost in new applications such as streambank restorations or inlet protection. Because they are filled on-site, the socks also cost less to ship than many other erosion-control materials.

SEAWORLD AND BEYOND
Tyler's first experiences with compost came as a salesman for Cleveland-based Kurtz Brothers in the early '90s, selling to landscapers, nurseries and garden centers. The challenge was convincing prospective customers to give compost a try even when there was no preexisting product to replace. However, nurseries could be convinced to try compost, which cost about one-third to one-half of the $30 a yard they were paying for peat. Enlisting Seaworld of Ohio's Cleveland Aquarium as a customer was a turning point that led to purchases from clients such as golf courses and retailers. Whatever compost wasn't sold was incorporated into topsoil blends. Tyler's training as an agronomist and background working at an uncle's Connecticut dairy farm paid off - “working with soils and looking at test results was natural for me.”
While working for Kurtz, Tyler also learned the value of quantified test results. Kurtz backed up its marketing efforts with research showing their compost and blends produced 20 to 200 percent increases in size in annuals and perennials. “We received a fair amount of publicity from that, and it gave us something to give landscapers and nurseries, letting them know we had been proactive enough to do some research.”
Later, Tyler started a consulting firm, Green Horizons, providing marketing expertise to those clients in the “green” industry. Eventually landscape engineers began seeking Tyler's expertise in solving their landscaping/erosion control challenges. Seeing the need for a locally made, annually renewable and recycled product, Tyler began experimenting on his own 28-acre farm with various types of filter socks. Filling socks by hand was too time-consuming and labor intensive; using a hose to fill the socks (“like making sausage”) proved to be the solution.
Tyler has developed a three-pronged marketing strategy of offering socks made of a variety of materials; using two main specs for filler material - one to serve as a growing medium and one designed primarily for filtration; and customization - the various ingredients that can be injected into the socks, such as fertilizer, seed or flocculants. (The latter are chemicals used to provide an ionic charge, causing soil particles to stick together and “drop out” in suspension.) Using compost with “pixie dust” - binders targeting specific pollutants such as phosphorous or hydrocarbons - “is a hot topic, now.”
After working with the FilterSocks for the past three years, 15 state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) have included Filtrexx products in their erosion control specs; among the first were Minnesota, Iowa, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, Maryland and Delaware. “It takes time for them to get comfortable with us and include us,” he adds. “It's a slow, deliberate process. A lot of projects come to us after other attempts have failed two or three times using other technologies. When that has happened, they're not looking for a low-cost solution as much as wanting to stop a problem and get the darn thing done. That has happened in a number of places. We don't mind doing the simple jobs, but we love to take on the toughest challenges. When we can fix those, that gives us a leg up.”

NEW KID ON THE BLOCK
“There are lots of tools currently considered acceptable; compost comes in as the new kid on the block. We're often asked whether we have any negative environmental impact; it sticks in my craw that people aren't asking the same things about existing systems.” He contends the compost industry needs to make more use of the data showing positive impact on water quality using organic materials with BMPs. “It's a good opportunity, it would change the marketing game from a value standpoint (comparing the price of compost versus other options) to one that emphasizes sustainability, performance and positive impact. That's what our vision is.”
Filtrexx now has effective procedures to quantify the performance of new products in regard to nutrient discharge from compost, sediment removal, removal of hydrocarbons and removal of nutrients such as phosphorous and nitrogen. “The procedures allow us to really study the physical, chemical and biological properties that other people know about from their field research but have never documented.” In stormwater management, for example, testing has shown that its filter media and sock remove 90 to 95 percent of oils and hydrocarbons.
DIFFERENT MARKETING STRATEGY
In one respect, Filtrexx has chosen a somewhat different marketing strategy from sellers of other erosion control tools: setting up its own certification program and selling only to certified installers. The erosion-control industry's number-one problem is poor installation, Tyler says. “We felt that, to set ourselves apart, provide value and have a handle on quality-control , we couldn't just sell socks to anybody; we need to have trained installers.” Twenty installers attended the company's first annual training meeting in 2002; that has grown to 80 installers at the 2004 meeting in Dallas in January. At the three-day meeting “we discuss the ins and outs of the erosion business using our technology. It's also an opportunity to introduce any new products, programs and procedures.” (The firm typically introduces about five new products per year).
“We have stayed with that approach and it has paid off with a very high (installation) success rate. We funnel business through the local, certified installers. We might get a call from someone in Arizona (for example) who wants to try a sock, but that's not how we conduct business. Ours is not an off-the-shelf product, even though 95 percent of the erosion business is structured that way.”
Filtrexx has developed a “rigorous” screening process for installers, according to Tyler. The firm requires a background in earth-science fields, and familiarity with Filtrexx and its products. Filtrexx also checks the quality of the compost its installers use. “When we get a new installer in an area, our first question is whether their product is enrolled in a certification program. If it is, that automatically bumps it to a quality level we can trust.
When Tyler is sizing up prospective Filtrexx contractors, another key question is whether they are willing to guarantee their work. “It's a basic principle that really good companies have no problem with. It's a good way to weed out 'fly-by-night' companies. If they are willing to stand behind what they do, that means a lot to us more than just the process or materials they use.”
Used to replace existing BMPs for erosion control and stormwater treatment, compost has much more value than it does when used as topsoil replacement, Tyler points out, where it only brings $5 to $20 per cubic yard. “And, in the case of topsoil, no one is necessarily measuring performance, unless it's a golf course, nursery, or something like that.”
On the other hand, “in the stormwater game, the value chain is linked to clean soil and water and vegetation establishment.” Compost Best Management Practices (BMPs) also stack up favorably against the tools they are replacing in terms of costs, he notes - $30 to $50 per cubic yard for compost blanket compared to $40 to $60 replacement cost for silt fences. More specialized applications such as streambank stabilization may cost upwards of $200 to $300 per cubic yard.
Continuing to develop the market for compost BMPs represents a chicken-egg situation, he says. “We're the only company that has (successfully) used compost for streambanks, so there isn't a market out there, yet. We're trying to develop the products and provide proof that (his products) they work.”
Now with a line of more than 40 products (several dozen patents pending), the company is on a quadruple annual growth curve. Filtrexx has only five employees, but 80 certified installers spread across 42 states, Canada and Japan. Tyler plans to move into markets in Australia, South America and “probably” Europe in the foreseeable future.
As the use of compost BMPs continues to grow, Tyler does not expect compost material supply to become an issue. “We always tell (prospective customers) 'Go ahead and spec and use it, we'll go make more.' When we are asked that question in a public setting, we point out that we (society) are only composting five or 15 percent of the waste steam right now, depending on what state we're in. There are eight billion tons of paper and other industrial residuals that could be pulled into this fray.”

Copyright 2007, The JG Press, Inc.