With the Dane County landfill running out of space, county officials are exploring a partnership with the city of Madison that would combine waste management, renewable energy, education and recreation. The plan entails using part of Madison’s Yahara Hills golf course for landfill and composting sites as well as a “sustainability campus” that could eventually support recycling and resale businesses.

John Welch, director of the county’s solid waste and renewables department, said the goal is to look at waste not as a liability but as a resource. “It’s not waste until it’s thrown away,” he said. The $32 million first phase of the plan — which would be paid for through user fees — is expected to be presented Wednesday to the city’s Parks Commission, though it will ultimately require signoff from multiple city and county committees.

Welch said he hopes to have final approval of the land sale by next summer, though the golf course could continue operating as it is for several more years. Dane County Executive Joe Parisi and Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said the concept is both environmentally and fiscally responsible. “If we don’t develop a site like this, the environmental and economic consequences are quite severe,” Parisi said. “It would require exporting our waste to somebody else’s backyard in a way that’s not environmentally friendly.”

To read the full story, visit https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/environment/reimagining-waste-city-county-eye-yahara-hills-for-future-landfill-with-focus-on-reuse/article_6ff177e0-5ec8-5315-a538-66a68ed86202.html.
Author: 

Sponsor