Landfill tarps in demand
By Brian R. Hook

Business is booming at the Thor Tarp division of Odin International Inc., a supplier of a line of alternative daily landfill covers, based in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. Dave Urban, vice president of Thor Tarp, said sales are “great” and are “going up each year” at the tarp division. He said the tarp business is up 48 percent from last year. To promote the tarp, used to replace dirt as a landfill covering at the end of each day, Urban said the division is focusing on advertising and word-of-mouth promotion.

Urban said the best way to sell the tarps as alternative daily covers is by showing that the coverings reduce costs per day for landfill operators. He said Thor Tarp sees a lot of repeat customers “when they see the life span of ours versus the competition.”

Urban said Thor Tarp is also working on a new tarp product, which he said would hopefully boost sales even further. But he said he did not want to reveal anything more about the tarp until it is developed, trademarked and patented. In addition to providing tarps, he said Thor Tarp advises customers on ways to increase the life span of the tarps.

SI Geosolutions, part of SI Corp. in Chickamauga, Georgia, is also using education to boost sales. SI provides the fabrics, including natural and synthetic, to companies that convert fabric into tarps. “We take an active role in growing our industry through innovation and education,” said Deron Austin, director of marketing at SI.

From the material that goes into the tarps for use as an alternative daily landfill cover to the equipment that rolls out the tarps, sales are growing. “We are currently at 127 percent of our projected sales for this time of the year and are anticipating even better numbers for the 3rd and 4th quarters of this sales year,” said Bill Glick, western regional sales representative for Tarpomatic Inc., headquartered in Canton, Ohio.

Tarpomatic sells the Tarpomatic Automatic Tarping Machine, which is a self-contained unit that deploys and retrieves tarps of various lengths and widths using one piece of equipment. Glick said that Tarpomatic is currently working with an industry known odor control company to enhance the equipment by directly spraying a biodegradable and pleasantly scented odor control solution directly on the garbage.

Glick credited the increase in sales to aggressive advertising. “We target our competitors weakness and design our ads comparing our products to theirs,” Glick said. He also said that word-of-mouth promotion helps. “Our customers are eager to talk to potential customers, so we send reference lists with all our information packages.”