Local Aspen Mill Launches Biodegradable Cat Litter Catkins

Mesa Verde Pellets introduced Catkins, a line of cat litter pellets made entirely from aspen sawdust and wood fiber byproducts, in early January. The new product is manufactured using leftover material from Aspen Wall Wood and Aspen Wood Products facilities in Mancos and Dolores, meaning no additional trees are harvested to supply the litter. Catkins is sold in 10- and 20-pound bags and ships with a specially designed scooper for pellet-style litter boxes.

Company leadership emphasized animal safety and environmental benefits as core selling points. President and CEO David Sitton, who has owned Aspen Wall Wood and its subsidiaries since 2016, noted the properties of aspen compared with common softwoods. “Our aspen pellets are phenol free, so they’re much safer for animals and easier on the animals than both clay or pine pellets,” Sitton said. “They’re biodegradable. They don’t have to go back to a landfill. They can go out into the garden, and they’re compostable. They are much less dusty than clay and pine, and they don’t track (through the house) like clay does. You can buy clay everywhere and it’s cheaper, but you go through less of the wood pellets, they’re a lot better at odor covering and are much cleaner.”

Mesa Verde Pellets was formed last year and began producing Catkins this year. Aspen Wood Products opened its plant in Mancos in 2018; Aspen Wall Wood in Dolores specializes in interior wall paneling and is described by Sitton as the largest U.S. mill producing lumber from aspen. Across all company entities, the businesses employ about 75 people, including roughly 40 employees in Mancos and three or four full-time staff dedicated to Mesa Verde Pellets. “We’re 100% locally owned and locally operated. All of our employees are local,” Sitton said. “We’ve all grown up here. So, this is a local venture.”

Local availability begins at several regional retailers, including JC Pets and The Good Life Pet Food & Supplies in Cortez, Pet Haus in Durango and Chow Down Pet Supplies in Pagosa Springs. The company is in active talks with larger distributors, including IFA and Big R, to expand retail reach across southwestern Colorado and beyond.

Beyond cat litter, Mesa Verde Pellets and its parent companies turn the same byproducts into heating pellets, barbecue smoking pellets blended with mesquite, oil absorption pellets for spill cleanups and animal bedding for both large and small livestock. Aspen Wood Products also produces excelsior used for sediment and erosion control and wood fiber products used in evaporative cooling pads and ground cover for highways and post-forest fire erosion mitigation.

For Dolores County residents, the launch combines local economic activity with environmental aims: using mill waste to create compostable products can lower landfill volumes while sustaining roughly 75 local jobs and potentially increasing demand for regionally produced wood-fiber goods should wider distribution deals materialize.