Larimer eyes landfill replacement options

Larimer County’s landfill still has an estimated decade of life left, but county leaders are already eying its replacement.

The county plans to build a phased-in landfill northwest of Wellington and has already bought the land. But county Public Works Director Marc Engemoen said the government isn’t tied to starting another landfill when its site along Taft Hill Road in Fort Collins fills up.

Why not a top-of-the-line recycling/trash sorter? Or an electricity-generating garbage incinerator?

To that extent, the county is planning a solid waste summit for the fall to discuss future waste-management operations.

Using a metaphor of a jigsaw puzzle, Engemoen told Larimer County commissioners Monday that “we don’t have all the pieces or know what the picture necessarily looks like. But it’s not to early to start think it. Ten years will fly by fast.”

The solid waste department, which operates as a self-funding department, has been squirreling away about a million dollars per year to prep for eventually replacing its waste operation. Replacing the landfill would run between $8 million and $15 million, between building a new landfill and turning the existing site into a transfer station.

But, as Engemoen noted, technology is bound to improve over the next decade. He introduced two alternatives, the first being a “dirty MRF,” or materials-recovery facility that sorts recyclables from general waste. That would run closer to $15 million to $20 million to build.

Recycling hasn’t been the money-maker it once was: While the county pulled in more than $1 millionin recycling revenue in 2011, 2015 estimates put recycling revenue at between $120,000 to $150,000. Engemoen said he thinks prices for recyclables will stabilize but admitted that’s “more of a hope than a prognostication.”

Engemoen also pitched a waste-to-energy station, which essentially incinerates trash and converts it into energy. The resulting ash would be at about a tenth the mass of the garbage burned.

Engemoen and Solid Waste Director Stephen Gillette didn’t know many details about such facilities, including how much energy they actually generate, but noted their rising popularity in dense East Coast regions — and their estimated construction cost of $50 million.

The cost would exclude Larimer County from building such a station in a timely fashion unless it pursues a public-private partnership or identifies other sources of money. Engemoen said they’d explore that option further, if only to determine if it isn’t a good option for Larimer County.

The waste-to-energy option stoked Commissioner Steve Johnson’s curiosity the most, however. Having returned from a recent East Coast trip where he saw one in action, it was far from a black smoke-billowing incinerator; in fact, it didn’t look like it was expelling anything, he said. The volatility of recyclable prices versus demand for energy struck a particular chord with him.

“I don’t see any way the county uses less energy in the future than it does today,” Johnson said.

Larimer County Solid Waste fast facts

•1 million cubic yards of solid waste went to the landfill in 2014

•On average, a Larimer County resident generates 2,400 pounds of solid waste each year.

•Larimer County recycles about 770 pounds of waste per person per year. The state average is 690 pounds. Boulder County has the highest rate, at 840 pounds.

•Recycling brought more than $1 million in county revenue in 2011. Because of market flux, it’s predicted to bring in $150,000 or less in 2015.

Source: Larimer County Public Works Department presentation