Jim Warner, Who Transformed Waste Authority Into National Model, to Retire

Warner, 60, chief executive officer of Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority since 1996, says he will leave a satisfied man.

“How many other executives get the opportunity to protect the environment, build a renewable energy portfolio and build some cool trails along the way? Not very many, and it’s been very special,” Warner says.

The forceful frontman for the authority, which operates under an $85 million budget, is receiving grateful praise from county officials and community leaders, who call him an innovator.

“The board and staff, with Jim’s leadership, have built a world-class organization,” Lancaster County Commissioner Craig Lehman says. “Whether it’s keeping tipping fees stable, creating a regional organization, converting waste to energy, reducing the authority’s carbon footprint or wisely investing in our community, Jim, the board and the staff have accomplished much.”

“He is extremely community-minded, and he is an internationally recognized innovator in his field,” Millersville University President John Anderson says. The authority helped fund a “zero energy” building for the university.

Warner was hired by the authority in 1987 to launch countywide recycling. That went well. The county far exceeds state and national recycling rates, and that has helped extend the life of the Frey Farm Landfill by about 20 years.

In 1996, Warner took over from Herb Flosdorf as the head of the body responsible for safely disposing of Lancaster County’s growing waste, and he immediately implemented policies to achieve his goals.

New Initiatives
His first major initiative was to put the authority on firmer financial footing. He cut staff and recruited out-of-county generators of special industrial waste for lucrative use of the county’s waste-to-energy incinerator.

That effort resulted in a more favorable credit rating and refinancing of more than $150 million in obligations that reduced the authority’s debt payments by $8 million a year.

Warner, whose annual salary is $218,000, was determined to avoid having to raise tipping fees — the dumping fees trash haulers have to pay that are passed back to residents through their trash bills. With a board buying into his vision, Warner leveraged the authority’s assets with a series of creative projects.
— Methane gas burned off at the county landfill was harnessed and used to produce enough power for 2,400 homes.
— Twin wind turbines on landfill property on Turkey Point along the Susquehanna River now help Turkey Hill Dairy produce ice cream and iced tea products.
— Warner and the authority successfully got the Perdue soybean-processing plant to locate on land the authority sold to Perdue next to the county incinerator in Conoy Township. The plant buys steam from the incinerator, bringing in more revenue for the authority.
— Converting the authority’s fleet of trash-transfer trucks to run on compressed natural gas reduces greenhouse gases, while saving money on fuel costs.
— The authority took a gamble in purchasing Harrisburg’s cash-strapped, violation-prone trash-to-energy incinerator and has turned it into a moneymaker, Warner says.

Today, tipping fees for haulers are 20 cents less than what they were more than 20 years ago.

There is more yet to come. An ash-recycling plant about to be constructed at the landfill will recover metals from ash at the Lancaster County and Harrisburg incinerators. The authority gets a percentage of the revenue from the sale of those metals and is making more money from an authority-backed loan for the project.