MORRISVILLE, Pennsylvania – When it comes to high volume manufacturing of premium grade, triple-processed mulch product, recycled from natural wood sources, Jim Britton knows exactly what it takes to be the industry’s finest.
Britton Industries Inc., Jim’s company, has over 30 years of experience in the recycling of vegetative waste and the manufacturing of an expansive line of landscape materials. Alongside mulch, its number one output, Britton also manufactures and supplies mulch colorants, soils and aggregates. Quarry stone, decorative stone, and sand and ice-melts round out the company’s finished product offerings. Britton also offers large parcel land clearing, on-site grinding and roll-off container services, which all help maintain an abundance of raw material supply.
When recycling millions of yards of material annually, consistency and quality are paramount to build and maintain a loyal, constantly expanding customer base. Britton has custom built an array of stationary electric grinding systems with primary components supplied by CW Mill Equipment Co. under the HogZilla brand. Landscapers, contractors and garden centers return year after year for Britton’s premium mulch.
Pat Flannery, Jimmy Britton and his father, company owner Jim Britton.
“Whether natural root mulch, one of our four color enhanced options, or certified playground material, all are processed through our electric stationary systems,” said Jim.
With four locations in Pennsylvania (Morrisville and Telford) and New Jersey (Lawrenceville and Marlton), Britton continues to expand its reach, also servicing customers in Delaware, Maryland, Connecticut, Virginia and New York. With aspirations of operating throughout the entire East Coast, it’s fair to say that this company’s outreach is just getting started. Given the seasonality of landscaping in the northeast, this expansion will guarantee the company year-round business.
Britton handles higher volumes of material than most. Because of this, many municipalities and private entities continue to rely on Britton for all of their wood processing and storm clean-up needs. For example, Britton deployed massive clean-up operations to combat Hurricane Sandy, which devastated the East Coast in 2012. Britton responded immediately and performed on-site grinding, street by street clean-ups and removal of wood and vegetative waste throughout the state of New Jersey. Over 60% of all wood waste generated by Sandy in the state was removed, processed, and recycled. This work was completed to the total satisfaction of Britton’s customers while it continued to operate its existing recycling facilities at full capacity.
The company serves landscapers, contractors and garden centers in those states as well as New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia.
Innovation and efficiency are always at the forefront for Britton’s upper level management team who have been mainstays at the company for over a decade. This goes hand and hand with their desire to continue benefiting the planet through a circular economy, recycling waste into useful products. The electric stationary grinding systems utilized by Britton, are much more environmentally friendly than the diesel fuel grinders utilized throughout most of the mulch manufacturing industry.
“Our carbon footprint is less than many companies 20% our size because they’re running nothing but diesel equipment,” said Jim. “For the amount of volume that we do, our carbon footprint is a fraction of our competition.”
The utilization of these state-of-the-art electric grinding systems became a possibility when Jim forged a business relationship with Tim Wenger, vice president and sales manager of CW Mill Equipment Co., creator of the HogZilla brand of grinding equipment. “I tell him what I want, and he builds it accordingly,” said Jim. “You don’t get that from other manufacturers. They build large electric grinders for us.” The company’s primary grinder is a large custom-built machine that houses two 400 horsepower motors.
Located in Sabetha, Kansas, CW Mill Equipment Co. has been manufacturing superior quality industrial grinding equipment for nearly 50 years. The company offers portable, horizontal units as well as tub grinders and the aforementioned stationary electric-powered grinding systems. These machines are all marketed under the HogZilla brand name.
The TC-1664SE 800 HP electric HogZilla grinding system is known for efficient operation and reduced maintenance. The massive construction features an optional 46-inch diameter, 12-pin hammer mill with an 8-¾-inch main shaft for steady RPM and high production grinding. Stationary systems feature a heavier duty 15-foot tub that is constructed from ½-inch steel. The tub floor is made of ¾-inch abrasion resistant steel, and the belly conveyor is 72 inches wide. Several thrown object restraint options are available, as well as a wide range of other advanced options, along with custom built motor control enclosures. The company also offers additional electric grinding systems in various sizes and configurations, tailored specifically to the customer’s need.
(For more information on HogZilla grinders, visit www.hogzilla.com, email hogzilla@cwmill.com, or call 1-800-743-3491.)
Britton’s mulch manufacturing process is straightforward yet complex. First, a Diamond Z horizontal grinder reduces the raw wood waste into a single ground material. While many competing mulch manufacturers sell this as their finished product, Britton takes it several steps further by processing those grinds through its stationary electric system. After the first grinds pass through the primary electric tub grinder, they are processed once again through a tertiary mill, creating a triple-ground product that is unlike anything else available on the market. Furthermore, when Britton manufactures its line of color enhanced mulches, which are available in black, cherry brown, chocolate brown and red, the liquid colorant is applied between the second and third grind, allowing the dye to become one with the product.
This innovative process was not developed overnight. It has been refined and perfected over the years and will continue to be tweaked and adjusted as newer efficiencies and processes prove beneficial. Since Jim has been in the landscape industry his entire life, he is abundantly aware of what the end users of his products prefer when it comes to finished material.
“In 1989, I first began cutting grass and landscaping, and later started a nursery,” explained Jim. “After seeing the quality of mulch available, I knew I could make a better product myself. Mulch is unique in that it can be transported in up to 100 cubic yard quantities because of its light weight, as opposed to soil, stone, etc. that can only be shipped in 20-25 cubic yard quantities.”
From modest beginnings to the thriving, multi-state corporation that Britton is today, Jim’s family has been there with him every step of the way. His wife, Andrea, and five children, Ashley, Katelyn, Shannon, Megan and Jim, have all worked for the family business and continue to contribute greatly to Britton’s continued success. Jim truly treats his employees as an extension of his own family with wide-ranging benefits including, but not limited to, health and dental insurance, paid time off and a 401(k) savings plan.
“All of our management feels that it’s important to make sure this company is providing whatever it can to its employees,” said Jim. “We take pride in taking care of every single one of them.”
With a multitude of generations comes a wide perspective of further innovations, especially when it comes to technology. Britton’s delivery drivers are equipped with iPad tablets that take pictures of each load delivered and secure electronic signatures, allowing a completely paperless system for bill of ladings. This is yet another example of how Britton makes continuous strides to reduce its impact on the environment. Additional advanced technological measures exist in the company’s use of electronic belt scales in its stationary grinding systems that record and quantify material production. Britton also uses aerial drones to measure inventory in all of its yard and capture videos and photographs from a bird’s-eye point of view. Simply put, Britton goes above and beyond the norm in the recycling and material manufacturing world and strives to continuously innovate processes throughout the company.
Britton takes pride in the fact that it maintains a zero-waste operation. “Everything we get, we recycle. One hundred percent of the material that comes into our facilities is recycled on site and manufactured into finished product,” said Shannon, who currently serves as Britton’s marketing coordinator. “Even the by-products of raw material that Britton does not process on its own are recycled. For example, the steel rebar separated from incoming broken concrete is sent to a metal scrap processor and recycler.”
As Britton continues to grow, the company is focused on creating and maintaining a uniform process at every facility. Its priority is to streamline and duplicate all operations so that the same loaders, excavators, trucks, grinding systems, computer software, etc. can be used at every location, operating in the same manner. This allows for the company to interchangeably utilize all equipment and personnel at any given location without skipping a beat. With no outliers or specifically focused machinery, all assets are utilized to their full potential, and there is little to no depletion of value or downtime.
Ashley, who serves as the company’s northern New Jersey sales executive, said Jim’s attention to detail is what makes Britton stand out from its competition.
“We invest everything back into this company,” said Ashley. “We’re looking to be bigger and better every single day. We’re also looking to continue to innovate the business, and the industry. We continuously put money, effort and time into making ourselves better. We truly feel like we’re our only competition, and find great pride in continuing to be the best in the market.”
(For more information on Britton Industries Inc., visit www.brittonindustries.com, email info@brittonindustries.com, or call (844) BRITTON.)
