According to Jen Jordan, resource management superintendent with Iowa City, the landfill saw 127,587 tons of trash come in during fiscal 2019. That was 13,000 fewer tons than the same period the year before. The last time the landfill saw a reduction in the tonnage of refuse coming in was fiscal 2012, when the 111,790 tons of trash represented a 5,000-ton decrease. The amount of trash coming into the landfill had grown each year — until now. “I won’t call it a trend until we’ve seen it for a few years,” said Jordan. “I can’t say it’s a trend yet. I certainly hope it is. It’s certainly a good year for us.”
Located outside the city on Hebl Avenue, the 400-acre landfill has been in existence since 1971 and serves all of Johnson County, as well as Kalona and Riverside. It’s used by both residential and commercial haulers. Joe Horaney, communications director with the Cedar Rapids-Linn County Solid Waste Agency, an intergovernmental agency that oversees the county’s landfill, reported the tonnage coming in has fluctuated in recent years. The landfill took in 183,638 tons in fiscal 2017, dropped to 180,803 tons in fiscal 2018 and then climbed to 202,304 tons in fiscal 2019, which ended June 30, according to statistics from Horaney.
Jordan said a number of factors contribute to the amount of trash coming into a landfill — ranging from natural disasters to the economy. “When people have more disposable income, they tend to buy more disposable stuff,” she said. She attributes part of this decrease to “our efforts in improving, expanding and advertising our waste reduction, recycling and composting programs over the past few years.”
The landfill banned television and computer screens in January 2017 and corrugated cardboard in January 2018. That’s in addition to appliance, lead acid battery, oil, tire and yard waste bans that have been in place since 1989. Two other initiatives have helped the waste reduction effort, Jordan said. In March 2017, the city added food waste to curbside collection and launched an awareness effort related to food waste collection in late 2017. In January 2018, the city transitioned to single stream recycling collection and introduced 65-gallon recycling carts.
Iowa City residents recycled 2,075 tons of material in fiscal 2019, Jordan said — a 25 percent increase from the previous fiscal year. In addition, 2,956 tons of yard waste were collected in fiscal 2019, a 72 percent yearly increase.