INTEGRATED SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT PLANNING PROJECT
SOUTHEAST WYOMING REGIONAL PLANNING AREA

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

1. Why is a 20-year integrated solid waste management plan necessary?

Most of the existing landfills in Wyoming are unlined and available data suggest that some of them may be leaking and polluting our groundwater. If we continue to bury our trash, we’ll need to start constructing our landfills with liners to protect our groundwater. This may not be practical or cost-effective at many of our existing local landfills. Implementing changes to our existing solid waste management systems will take time and money, so it makes sense to plan carefully and plan ahead. In 2006, the Wyoming Legislature passed a law requiring the operators of our 51 existing landfills to prepare 20-year integrated solid waste management plans. The intent of this law is to encourage landfill operators to carefully consider using larger, regional facilities that are more cost-effective to operate, and provide more environmental protection. This law also encourages landfill operators to evaluate how waste diversion, recycling, and composting facilities can be utilized to help manage the trash we generate.

2. Why do we have to think about lining our landfills?

All landfills leak. Some landfills leak more than others. Monitoring data from Wyoming landfills suggest that even when landfills are located in areas that receive very little precipitation and are underlain by good soils and geologic conditions, they can still generate enough leachate to impact the local groundwater. Once groundwater below a landfill becomes polluted, it can migrate offsite and limit existing or future uses of the local groundwater. If we don’t build landfills with liners, we may not know the extent of the leakage until it is detected by groundwater monitoring systems – a process that can take decades. It’s not cheap to install liners, but it’s usually cheaper than cleaning up groundwater pollution after the fact.

3. Why are we preparing regional plans?

In most Wyoming communities, the majority of the trash generated is buried in small local landfills. The cost of operating our existing local landfills is already quite high, and is likely to increase even more as we begin to install liners to protect our groundwater. In most businesses, as the number of products produced goes up, the cost to produce each product goes down. This concept, which is commonly referred to as “the economies of scale,” also applies to landfills, as well as other waste management facilities such as recycling centers and composting facilities. In general, larger landfills, recycling centers, and composting facilities are more cost-effective to build and operate than smaller ones. The Wyoming Legislature recognized the potential benefits of larger facilities, so the planning law they passed includes funding incentives to encourage operators of existing landfills to work together and consider regional alternatives.

4. Who will be preparing our plan?

The Trihydro Corporation, a Wyoming-based environmental consulting firm, has been hired to help your local elected officials and solid waste professionals prepare a plan for your community. Local stakeholders, such as public and private collection system operators, recycling and composting facility operators, and the local media have also been asked to participate. The planning process is open to the public, so anyone that is interested is invited to attend the upcoming meetings and presentations, and offer their input. We want to hear everyone’s opinions and ideas, so we can identify and evaluate the options that will best serve your community’s needs for years to come.

5. Will we have to close our existing landfill?

Not necessarily. Operators of Wyoming’s existing landfills are required to prepare 20-year integrated solid waste plans, but no one will be required to implement any recommended changes until they decide that the changes are reasonable, cost-effective, and in their best interests. In some cases, however, it may make sense to either close an existing landfill, or at least change how it is operated. Several Wyoming communities have already considered the cost and liabilities associated with their landfills, and decided to close them and replace them with transfer stations. Some communities just use their transfer stations to manage their municipal solid waste and continue to use their existing landfill to dispose of bulky, inert wastes such as construction/demolition debris. In general, these types of changes have resulted in overall cost savings and have been positively received by the local residents.

6. Will we have to accept trash from other communities at our landfill?

Not necessarily. Just because your community is working with another community to prepare a plan, no one community will be required to accept trash from another community, even if the plan suggests that doing so is the most cost-effective option. The planning process is mandatory, but the implementation process is voluntary. The purpose of the planning process is to make sure that everyone knows what options are available, the pros and cons of each option, and the cost to implement each option. In the end, each community will have the information they need to make a reasonable and responsible decision regarding the future of waste management in their community.

7. Will we be required to recycle?

Probably not, but you may be encouraged to do so. Recycling in rural areas like Wyoming is not typically a money-making proposition. However, in many cases, the cost to recycle a ton of waste is cheaper than the cost to bury it in a landfill. It makes sense, therefore, to recycle as much as we can to avoid the cost of burying more waste and filling up our expensive landfills. Coordination and expansion of existing recycling programs and facilities could help solve part of our solid waste problem and save your community money.

8. Are my trash rates going to go up?

We don’t know yet. If your community is currently using an unlined landfill, your rates may go up when new cells are constructed with liners. If your existing landfill closes, a transfer station is built, and your waste is transported to a regional facility, your garbage rates could go up or down. It’s possible that there is an alternative waste management system that could be cheaper to operate than your existing system. We won’t know if your current rates will be more likely to increase or decrease until a full cost accounting analysis of your existing system and alternative systems are completed and compared.

9. Will this project impact the private business that currently picks up and hauls my trash?

It may, but no differently than it will impact everyone else. The distance that your trash needs to be hauled, and the cost to dispose of it at your landfill or new transfer station could go up or down, but such changes should affect everyone, not just private businesses. Keep in mind that the purpose of this planning project is to determine which type of waste management system makes the most sense for your community, and not to promote either public or private ownership of any one component.

10. What is Full Cost Accounting?

Full Cost Accounting is a process used throughout the country to systematically identify, sum, and report the actual costs of solid waste management systems. It considers past and future expenditures, overhead costs, and operating costs. Once the full cost of existing and alternative solid waste management systems are known, communities can make well-informed decisions about which type of system they want to use, and better plan for the future.