Dive Brief:
- Only 8.2% of the total 907,092 tons of solid waste received by Ontario County Landfill in upstate New York was generated in that county in 2015, according to a report by the site’s operator Casella Waste Systems. The other 92% came from 26 counties across the state, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire.
- While the bulk of waste received was mixed municipal solid waste, totaling 652,854.3 tons, the landfill also takes in asbestos, construction and demolition debris, industrial waste, and sewage treatment plant sludge.
- Rockland County sent the most mixed municipal waste to the landfill (302,966.9 tons, or 46.4%, of material) and Monroe County was the second largest customer (98,145.7 tons or 15.03%).
Dive Insight:
With all that trash coming almost entirely from other jurisdictions, Casella and the county look for benefits to balance out potential environmental factors—mainly financial advantages. Among gains, the landfill collected and utilized 168.5 tons of beneficial use determination materials (BUD) in 2015, which is waste like aggregates and concrete among other discards used as a daily cover, intermediate cover, or road base.
The Casella-run landfill, with its recycling facility, brought in recyclables from 19 counties and several Pennsylvania locations, though for now there has been no profit in some of these materials as they ride at a record low. Still the operation did well in another reuse area—generating electricity from 1.6 billion cubic feet of collected methane, including 2.4 million kilowatt-hours worth to power the landfill, which has a gas-to-energy plant.
Extending beyond Ontario County, Casella did close 2015 fairly strongly, with companywide fourth-quarter earnings up 4.9% from the same period in 2014 and revenues for the fiscal year also up.
