COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. — It’s spring, which means everyone is busy encouraging azaleas and rosebushes and discouraging pesky weeds that seem to multiply before their eyes. Residents of Cheltenham Township have an ally in this effort thanks to the township’s sophisticated leaf recycling program, which whisks away their messy autumn leaves and turns them into free compost and mulch by spring.
Compost is organic plant material, which in this case consists of leaves broken down by heat and microbes into a nutrient-rich soil conditioner. In contrast, mulch may be organic or inorganic materials, which are layered on top of soil to suppress weeds and retain moisture.
The 30-year-old Cheltenham Township program collects about 54,000 cubic yards of leaves (the size of the Capitol Rotunda) between October and December each year, according to Chris Clewell, Public Works Superintendent.
Piles of leaves, sometimes 4 feet high, stretch along the township’s tree-lined streets awaiting pick-up. The township warns residents not to mix invasive plants such as knotweed, poison ivy or honeysuckle in with the leaves.
Township employees use front-end loaders to pick up the massive piles and take them to the recycling center on Waverly Road. Now, all municipalities are required by law to collect and dispose of leaves, but Cheltenham takes it a step further, transforming maple, oak and birch debris into free garden gold for anyone, including non-township residents.
The dumped leaves are formed into rows called windrows. As they break down over the next five or six months, they give off heat. Employees speed the process along by periodically turning the piles, providing oxygen to facilitate decomposition and checking the temperature of the piles with a four-foot long thermometer that looks like the probe you use to check on your Thanksgiving turkey.
Heat is good because it decomposes the leaves, but there is such a thing as too much heat — if the piles get hotter than 180 degrees, the leaves might spontaneously combust, requiring the assistance of the fire department. So employees turn the piles, releasing clouds of smoke as they simultaneously mix the ingredients and cool them down.
By early April, the piles are ready for grinding by the “Beast” — a state-of-the-art leaf grinder powerful enough to do in 13 days what used to take six or seven months. The resulting leaf compost can be used as a soil amendment, as a top dressing around ornamental plants and vegetables and as a mulch.
Clewell says their machine has saved the township 1,712 work hours and $29,000 in fuel costs each year. Cheltenham’s program also saves residents $500,000 annually in tipping fees at landfills.
Residents can pick up free compost at 1 Waverly Road, Glenside. The helpful employees will even dump compost into the back of your truck for free.
“It’s both an economic and environmental benefit for township residents,” Township Manager Bryan Havir said. “The savings are remarkable considering the disposal fees if the leaves were sent to landfills.”
Both Havir and Clewell say they are willing to share their practices and experiences with other townships and municipalities. They can be contacted at https://www.cheltenhamtownship.org/.
— Rick Ross
Penn State Extension