Agenda - Council - 06/23/1981 - Laserfiche WebLink

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materials and substantial disposal fees, in addition to revenues from the sale of energy. Generally, the market price for solid waste energy products should be competitive with the price of energy products derived from fossil fuels. Whether the revenue and fees received can be adequate to compete with alternative methods of waste disposal is a question that must be decided in each instance. Figure 6 shows the estimated effect of various energy recovery efforts (beginning in 1982) on future landfill needs in the Area. Depending on the operating capacity of the facility, about 8,000 to 25,000 acre-feet of landfill space, or three to eight years of landfill life, would be "saved" by the year 2000. These figures, however, do not account for residues from processing, which may range from 10 to 30 percent of the weight of refuse processed. Land- fills designed specifically for the residues would need to be near the proposed solid waste energy plant. Another form of high technology resource recovery is compostin~ o__~f mixed solid wastes.' Similar to back a~9~ compostin9 .o_~f _a~ waste, larg~ cent~al-~ompostln~~Cl"-~r~l¥ on the blologlca~ processes of microorganisms to break down the organic fraction of nlci al solid wastes, without source separation,.the centr~l~e~ mu ' p. ~ .... z~ ....... ss the waste, u~l~-shredding.and compostlng facilities further ~ . recover- faci11~ mechanical Separation tecnlgues similar, to ~ner~y ._ ~ _ _ ~ ties. The v~ab~llty of composting la~.nts depends on the markets for t--~lna-l--product, centraxlze~ uu,~,F~?~ ~ ~. _ include open "windrow" systems (that ~s, piles of organic refuse that are turned using large road machinery) and enclosed systems where the Oxyge~ temperature~-~ls are contro--~e~.. T---~e types o_~ resource recovery systems are more common in Europe than in the ired States. (For more specific information about the proposed United ~ ___r~____~ve_~of ener-v and'biological recovery systems,, refer to-the CounCil s "Land Disposal Abatemen~ aepu~u. ~ Planning For Future Needs Based on present disposal practices, the Region's remaining permitted landfill space will be exhausted by (1985) the mid-1980's. This will happen even sooner if more solid waste is disposed of in Area landfills. Notwithstanding, sanitary landfills will remain an integral part of the Region's solid waste management system. Even with maximum resource recovery, waste reduction or source separation strategies, landfilling will be necessary to dispose of the residuals from resource recovery facilities and other solid waste that is not or cannot be reduced or used. The siting and development of new landfills and increasing the capacity of existing sites must begin soon to meet the Region's disposal needs. This will be difficult, time-consuming and expensive. Since the location of a landfill can be controversial, the timing and extent of public involvement requires significant preparation. Public opposition can reduce the chances of even the best landfill proposal. In addition, increasingly rigorous and detailed environmental protection standards will extend the time required for state, regional and local review and approval of new landfill proposals. New or expanded landfills are expected to