Following Hurricanes Helene and Milton, over 10 million cubic yards of debris were cleared from Tampa Bay, with Hillsborough County alone contributing nearly 5 million cubic yards – enough to fill over 1,400 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Residents waited patiently for months as piles of vegetative debris were removed from their street corners. Now, that same debris might be making its way back to them in a new form.

Bill Gaston’s company, Gaston’s Tree Service LLC, is turning this debris into valuable agricultural products. 

“We take what used to be a liability and turn it into something beneficial, and it’s rewarding,” Gaston stated. “We manage to convert millions of tons from a liability to an asset each year.”

As one of Florida’s largest vegetative management firms, Gaston’s Tree Service was tasked by Hillsborough County to handle the post-storm cleanup by grinding the debris into mulch, an approach that’s kinder to the environment than burning or landfilling.

Gaston humorously describes their process: “The debris comes into our site, and we turn it into mulch for beneficial use. It doesn’t get more complicated than that – we just pick up a lot of sticks!”

The mulch created can be used to enrich soil, serve as renewable energy, or end up in local hardware stores and nurseries. Gaston notes that this repurposed debris could be helping to nurture Florida’s future plant life.

“Neighbors might go buy mulch from a big box store, then take it home to spread around their flowers or trees,” he explained.

After over four months of working 10-12 hour days, seven days a week, Gaston estimates that his team at their Wimauma site is about three weeks away from completing the final phase of this hurricane debris processing.

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(Image credit: City of Tampa)

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