Dive Brief:

• The Rapid City Council authorized on Jan. 2 the city landfill to begin advertising for bids to expand by about 50 acres at an estimated price of $6.8 million, as reported by the Rapid City Journal.
• The landfill currently stands at around 360 acres. In addition to digging and installing leachate protection, the construction would call for relocating some power lines. The landfill currently has only about one year of airspace left.
• The first cell to be added is expected to create about 10 years of usability. The second cell is expected to add 10-12 years of usability. Officials hope construction will begin in February and wrap by August, as reported by KOTA News.

Dive Insight:

Most of the estimated cost, about $4.7M, will come from Rapid City's Solid Waste Department's undesignated cash fund, with the remainder coming from the department's collection fund. The landfill operated with about a $350,000 surplus in 2016, after incurring $6.36 million in expenses against collecting $6.71 million. In addition to being financially sound, Rapid City may have a stable future for its landfill logistics.

The city purchased a 106-acre plot of land just south of the already-existing landfill more than a decade ago, which could add an estimated 30 years to the site's capacity. Rapid City also has curbside collection and yard waste collection programs, so with residential and commercial buy-in, the community could see a steady diversion rate, keeping the landfill — which sees a typical daily load of 450 tons — from filling too quickly. South Dakota's recycling rate in 2011 was just under 19%, though the state has not taken a comprehensive look at recycling data since.

So far, South Dakota has only seen some effects of China's scrap import restrictions. Companies and local governments that are collecting only high-grade plastics are faring OK, but cities and companies that are collecting lower-grade plastic through single-stream (like Rapid City does) have had to do some stockpiling.