Dive Brief:
- A city-owned landfill in Janesville, WI is now making money and expanding less than two years after the city considered selling it.
- Decreased tipping volumes and rising revenue costs contributed to a $260,000 deficit in the city's sanitation fund in 2014. The fund is now expected to be $1.05 million in the green by the end of this year.
- The landfill's one million cubic yard expansion is set to be complete by October and will be the fourth of five potential cells at the site. The city plans to borrow $2 million for the project.
Dive Insight:
The Janesville landfill has been operational since 2005, though began running into trouble when an effort was made to reduce the amount of material disposed at the site. While there has been some concern over the site's capacity in the past, Janesville has made the calculation that it's better to bring in more material now and stabilize the site's finances in the short-term.
The landfill now accepts waste from outside the county and has secured $600,000 worth of new contracts. User fees were also increased and the sanitation fund's debt was restructured. The city is using $250,000 from its general fund to settle the debt.
According to the state's Department of Natural Resources, the landfill opened with 4.77 million tons of capacity and had 1.84 million tons left available at the beginning of the year. It is expected to accept 130,500 tons of refuse this year, about 40,000 more than 2014.
