Matters related to the Shelby County Landfill and the county’s garbage collection and recycling contract came before the Shelby County Commission. Chief Development Officer David Willingham and Environmental Services Manager Brandon Hamilton provided information on bids the county received for residential garbage collection and recycling services, along with updates from the landfill.
The Commission approved a resolution for the expansion of the municipal solid waste disposal area at the landfill from 57.6 acres to 77.7 acres through the construction of Cell No. 5. Located off Alabama 70, the landfill’s total permitted area consists of 360 acres. “Last year, in 2021, we took in 188,500 tons of MSW garbage,” Willingham said, adding that the construction/demolition waste totaled 81,600 tons and brush waste totaled 22,400 tons. “We have permitted cells that take care of MSW, and the wood waste is ground up, mulched and reused.”
Scroggins said 188,500 tons of municipal solid waste converts to 377 million pounds of garbage contained in that one cell. The low bid for the Cell No. 5 construction was $6.5 million from T&K Construction. “Cell No. 5 will add about 3 million cubic yards of air space for us,” Willingham said. “That should last us around 10 years.”