News from the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.
February 13, 2008
Volume 38, Number 63
Contact: James Short, Solid and Hazardous Waste Section, phone: (302) 739-9403 or Melanie Rapp, Public Affairs, phone: (302) 739-9902
Brandywine Hundred Community Yard Waste Drop-off Site Opens Feb. 15
The Brandywine Hundred Community Yard Waste Demonstration Site will open Friday, Feb. 15 for residential yard waste, including all plant materials resulting from lawn maintenance and landscaping activities. The new site, located on the north side of Cauffiel Parkway, approximately 100 yards east of the Cauffiel Parkway and Philadelphia Pike (Business Route 13) intersection, serves as a cost-free and convenient option for residents to comply with the northern New Castle County yard waste ban.
The Brandywine Hundred site is open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. and is for use by New Castle County residents only. Commercial businesses, such as landscaping and lawn care companies, as well as municipalities are not eligible. Only loose material can be left; plastic bags and other containers must be emptied and removed from the site. Instructional signs are posted on-site.
Yard waste will be periodically ground into useable landscape mulch, and New Castle County residents can pick up free mulch when it is available.
Mulch benefits plants and the soil by conserving moisture, impeding weed growth and increasing the soil’s organic content. Mulching also reduces the need for costly chemical herbicides and fertilizers.
Yard waste makes up a large percentage of the residential waste that goes into landfills. These organic materials include grass clippings, leaves, prunings, brush, shrubs, garden materials, Christmas trees and tree limbs up to four inches in diameter. Keeping yard waste out of landfills by recycling and composting extends the life of the landfill and promotes sustainability.
On Jan. 24, 2008 the New Castle County ban on yard waste went into effect, prohibiting all yard waste materials from being disposed or mixed in with other household trash going to the Cherry Island Landfill.
Residents are required to dispose of yard waste through an alternative method – drop it off at one of DNREC’s free yard waste drop-off sites; use a mulching mower or compost it; have it hauled away by a private hauler, landscaper, or the Delaware Solid Waste Authority for recycling; or take it to one of the commercial facilities available in New Castle County.
In July 2007, DNREC opened the DART Mid-County Community Yard Waste Demonstration Site at the southwest corner of U.S. Rt. 13 and Rt. 72 near Bear. In early November, another site, the Polly Drummond Hill Community Yard Waste Demonstration Site, ½ mile north of Kirkwood Highway and directly across from the Judge Morris Estate, was opened. These sites are open daily from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
On May 23, 2007, Governor Ruth Ann Minner signed Senate Joint Resolution 2 that directed the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and the Delaware Solid Waste Authority to work with partners to open and operate at least three community yard waste sites. The Brandywine Hundred site, the third drop-off site in New Castle County, completes the requirement.
Information on the Brandywine Hundred Community Yard Waste Demonstration Site will be available on DNREC’s website,
www.dnrec.delaware.gov beginning on Friday, Feb. 15.
