Solid Waste Officials Prepping for Iowa’s Linn County Landfill to Run Out of Space

SEATTLE (Waste Advantage): The countdown is on at the Linn County landfill, it’s on pace to be fill up in 2037. The Linn County landfill typically takes in 500 to 600 tons of garbage every single day, but in 2037 it’ll be all out of space to put it. 2037 may seem like it’s a long way away, but Solid Waste Deputy Director Joe Horaney said it’s a race against the clock.

“For us, planning-wise, it feels like it’s almost tomorrow because when it comes to garbage, whatever you’re gonna do with it, it does take a lot of time. There’s a lot of zoning, there’s permitting that goes into it. So it’s gonna take every bit of that 11 years to figure out what that next step is gonna be,” Horaney said.

The Solid Waste Agency’s board has already decided it won’t make another landfill in Linn County. So when the current spot is full, it’ll act as a transfer site, meaning garbage will be taken there and then shipped out elsewhere. The problem is, that method is considerably more expensive.

Courtesy: www.wasteadvantagemag.com