Despite a glutted market for recyclable material and looming capacity problems at waste sites elsewhere, most of Tennessee’s landfills have enough space for at least a decade’s worth of garbage, a new state report says.
Of 31 landfills operating across the state, 13 have more than 25 years’ capacity remaining, while another nine have at least 10 years worth of space, the survey conducted by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation says.
The most populous county, Shelby, is especially well-off. The two landfills operated by Republic Services — at the southern edge of the county near Holmes and Malone roads and in North Shelby County off Old Millington Road in Millington — each have more than 25 years’ space, the report says.
The South Shelby landfill receives more than 1,900 tons of household trash daily, while the North Shelby facility gets 1,182 tons a day.
The report indicates “we’re sitting pretty” in terms of landfill space in the Memphis area, said Scott Banbury, coordinator of conservation programs for the Tennessee chapter of the Sierra Club.
Most of the rest of the state has avoided capacity problems, as well. Only four waste sites have 5 years or less worth of space available. The landfill closest to reaching capacity is in White County, where a small site receiving only 51.4 tons a day is expected reach capacity within a few months.
In Tennessee, as well as other states, recycling and composting operations, along with energy-producing incinerators, have helped divert trash from landfills.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the amount of garbage disposed of in landfills fell from 145.3 million tons in 1990 to 135.5 million tons in 2010 — even as the total amount of municipal solid waste generated increased by 20 percent.
The long-term outlook isn’t so rosy, however. During the next five years, landfill capacity in the U.S. is expected to drop by more than 15 percent, according to the Waste Business Journal.
A major factor in the capacity decline, according to industry experts, is a glutted market for recyclable material resulting largely from restrictions imposed by China, which traditionally has been a leading destination for used plastic, glass, paper and other material.
China on Jan. 1 began enforcing a policy banning imports of several types of recyclable material and setting stricter contamination standards on others.
Robert Knecht, public works director for Memphis, said the city won’t be immediately affected by the Chinese decision because it has a long-term contract with Republic Services to accept and process recyclables for no charge.
“But that’s no reason to keep throwing stuff away and not recycling,” he added.
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