County landfill by the numbers
There was some good news in the Flathead County Solid Waste District’s report for fiscal year 2012 — the amount of waste hauled to the landfill was down, recycling costs were improving thanks to commodity prices, and more landfill gas was being burned to generate electrical power.
The district reported $7.2 million in revenue, of which two-thirds came from residential and commercial assessments. Residents pay the district $80.73 per household. Revenue also comes from tipping fees and recycling sales.
Expenditures totaled $8.9 million, including $1.1 million to a trust fund for cell liners if the landfill expands, another $1.1 million for the closure and post-closure trust fund, and $700,000 for a property acquisition trust fund. Costs averaged out to $31.50 per ton of waste, slightly higher than in FY2011.
The district’s 18-plus employees handled 92,354 tons of solid waste deposited at the county landfill halfway between Kalispell and Whitefish, a decrease of 2.64 percent from FY2011.
That included 72,791 tons of mixed waste, 18,569 tons of construction waste and 1,126 tons of brush that was diverted to a chipper for use on the landfill. About 47 percent of the mixed waste came from commercial haulers, 34 percent from county green box sites, 11 percent from municipal haulers and 8 percent from private citizens.
Some waste can’t go into the landfill’s expensive lined cells. Discards from vehicles included 750 batteries, 4,800 gallons of oil, 1,100 gallons of antifreeze and 8,581 tires that were hauled off to a private landfill for tires at a cost to the district of $13,488.
The landfill also took in 1,811 refrigerators and 3,811 other appliances — all told, about 639 tons of “white goods” that were baled and removed, earning the district $128,141 as recycled materials.
A total of 236 million cubic feet of landfill gas was collected from the decaying garbage heap and burned in the Flathead Electric Cooperative generating plant at the landfill. That was 21.8 percent more gas than in FY2011. The plant generates 1.2 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 1,200 homes.
The district maintains 11 green box sites, including the county’s only manned site in Columbia Falls and one site in Coram serving Hungry Horse, Martin City and Coram. Countywide, the green box sites accounted for 24,591 tons of waste, 3.83 percent less than in FY2011.
The three sites in Essex, Pinnacle and Nyack, which account for about 1 percent of the waste from the county’s green box sites, will be consolidated at a site to be built at Red Rocks near Essex this year. The solid waste district board is considering operating the new site three days a week and closing it in winter. It will have bear-proof, electrified fencing and be open by fall.
The district’s recycling program cost $197,699 to operate and took in $156,183 from the sale of recyclable material for an average cost of $35.26 per ton. That’s down from a cost of $84.97 per ton in FY2010 and $47.78 per ton in FY2011.
Typically, the cost of recycling has been less than the cost of disposal over the 15 years of the program, the district reported. Commodity prices rebounded at the close of FY2012, so the program has returned to its normal expense trend.
The landfill also took in hazardous waste during three collection events. A total of 174 residents left 4,647 gallons of household waste at one event that included oil-based paint and stain, pesticides and herbicides, mercury and other materials. The district spent $20,415 disposing of the household materials. More than 14 tons of electronic waste were collected at the fifth annual E-Waste event.