Agenda - Council - 01/12/1982 - Laserfiche WebLink

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,I I I I SITING NEW SOLID WASTE LANDFILLS IN THE METROPOLITAN AREA: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Question: What's this "waste crisis" I keep hearing about? My trash is still picked up every week. So what's the problem'? Answer: There is a mounting problem, although you may not have noticed it. We are running out of places to put waste. Q. What kind of waste? I I I It's called "mixed municipal waste" or "solid waste." It's the trash your refuse hauler picks up... bottles, cans, old newspapers, food wastes. ,, Why can't we go on burying solid waste as we've always done? Currently, solid waste is carried to 11 sanitary landfills located around the Twin Cities Region. But these landfills are filling up rapidly and no new landfills have been built since the 1960s. By 1986, all the landfills in the Region are expected to run out of space. I I I I I I LOOKING FOR SOLUTIONS Why not expand existing landfills? Some of them already have been expanded. In other cases, the lay of the land doesn't permit expansion. Also, some pose a potential threat of pollution to groundwater lying underneath. Why not build new landfills? Finding new locations for landfills isn't easy. Most people don't want landfills located near their homes or farms. People are concerned about the risk of groundwater pollution, increased traffic on nearby roads, flying litter blowing off trash trucks and the unsightly appearance of landfills. Why not recycle waste material instead of throwing it away? That's a partial solution. Recycling can substantially reduce the amount of waste going to landfills. The Metropolitan Council estimates that about 14 percent of all trash is recycled now. However, recycling will never completely eliminate the need for landfills. There will always be some wastes that can't be recycled. Q. Why not recover energy from solid waste by burning it? I I I Ao Qo Energy recovery is our best solution in the long run. But facilities are expensive and take years to develop.:; How much waste could recycling and energy recovery reduce? Planners think that 70 to 90 percent of wastes can be diverted annually from landfills by the year 2000. Glass bottles, aluminum cans and paper can be recycled into new .bottles, cans and paper. Trash can be burned to recover usable heat energy or composted.. 'Producing less waste in the first place can reduce the need for landfills. For example, I 1