Go green! Reduce, reuse, recycle! Reduce your carbon footprint! These popular buzz words are becoming a greater reality in Davie County thanks to Wallace Farm.

Wallace Farm Inc., which has operated a successful compost facility in Mecklenburg County since the 1960s, has recently opened a second compost facility in Davie County.

“Local governments, businesses and the public have become much more aware of the importance of recycling local materials to protect the environment, to reduce the need for landfill space and to avoid wasting material that can be reused,” said Eric Wallace, whose family has for generations operated the Wallace Farm compost facility located in Huntersville near Charlotte.

“We found the perfect site in Davie County.”

“There is a growing demand for compost operations, both from the folks who supply us with the raw materials and from retailers and consumers who use the finished products,” Wallace said. “When we decided to open a second facility to meet the demand, we found the perfect site in Davie County.”

Wallace had been searching for a site for eight years, and had considered property in Rowan, Iredell, Yadkin, Davidson, Forsyth and Rockingham counties.

“I felt called to come this direction and still feel that way,” Wallace said. “Once we reached out to the folks in Economic Development and met with Terry Bralley, and saw how things are done in Davie County, we knew we had found the perfect place. We wanted to go somewhere where we were wanted and accepted.”

Creating value & eliminating waste

Compost facilities take in organic waste materials, speed up the decomposition process and convert the materials into a rich soil. Compost may be used as a soil amendment or blended with other products to make blended top soils, garden soils and potting mixes. At the new facility, Wallace Farm will process ground and un-ground yard waste, leaves, land clearing debris, sawdust, cotton, tobacco, animal manures, food-processing residuals, water treatment residuals, food waste and other types of organic materials.

Wallace will be reaching out to municipalities, various types of manufacturing facilities, food- processing facilities, businesses and eventually the public seeking to have them dispose of organic waste materials at his facility rather than in a landfill.

The Davie County facility opened in mid-November and has already started receiving materials, including leaves from local municipalities.

Creating jobs

The Davie County facility is located on 162 acres on Lee Jackson Drive, in Advance, and currently employs five workers, four of whom are from Davie County. Wallace expects to employ as many as 10 workers in the first year of operation as the facility becomes established, and then to grow the workforce from there.

Initially, the Davie County facility will concentrate on bulk sales to landscapers, farm stores, landscape supply outlets and the public, Wallace said. Once the operation is established, Wallace hopes to build a production facility much like the one in Mecklenburg, where materials will be packaged and made ready for market.

“Over the next few months, we’ll work on letting the public know that we are here and what kind of materials they too can bring here,” Wallace said. He encourages anyone who would like information about the new facility to call him at 704-875-2975, ext. 17, or to contact him through his email at eric@wallacefarmproducts.com.

“We are delighted that Wallace Farm chose to locate the company’s new facility in Davie County,” said Terry Bralley, president of Davie County Economic Development. “They provide a needed public service, help local companies build environmental sustainability, all while contributing jobs and tax base to the local economy. That’s a great combination.”