2013-01-22_PWETC_AgendaPacket - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

There is more demand for compost that comes fton organics composting facilities. Facilities such as the NRG compost facility in Rosemount accept only what are called organics that in- cludes too d waste, yard waste and compostable paper pro ducts. That material requires very little processing and the resulting compost is cleaner and higher in nitrogen making it easier to sell. 1 mtsfer Stations A transfer station is list a temporary storage facility for the garbage Garbage is collected there before being shipped to another facility for link disposal. ForinstanceWalter'shaulsthegar - bage it colleen to its own transfer station in Blaine compiles it and ships it to a landfill in Eau Claire Wisconsin for link disposal. Transfer stations may also accept garbage from private citizens. Ramsey County licenses nine privately ton tr ansfer stations. LandrMs There are 32 Refills (including three in the metro area) that serve Mmesota Mmesonhasenactedstronger environ - mental and financial requvements for Refills and a higher tax on tipping fees (the charge for dropping off waste) than sur _ ending states. As a result, no companies are planning to build new landlady in the metro area And the State estimates space at existing landfills in Mucr esota well ton out in the next ten to fifteen years. Instead more waste is being shipped to out of state landfills. At a landfill the material is dumped into the ground compacted and at the end of the day covered with either dirt or mother approved cover material such as broken glass (this prevents material from blowing away and animal scavenging). That do sed off area is called a cell. Garbage is added much faster than it can decompose under these conditions (some items such as plastic and glass rarely, ifever, decompose under these conditions). Eventually landfills can accept no more garbage and are capped meaning a link layer of dirt is placed over the site it is landscaped and officials monitor the site basically forever for health and safety effects of the decomposing material Minnesota also requires landfill operators use methane collection systems in capped sections of Refills. Methane gas is given off in the natural decomposition process and is linked to global timing. A methane collection system traps the gas before it can be released into the almo sphere Although estimates are that in a best case scenario only about 20% of the total methane produced is captured Typically the gas is then burned on site Companies such as BFI use the burning gas to produce electricity. Cunently federal regulations require new landfills to have a double lining (usually of plastic) to prevent leachate from sinking into the ground Leachate is the water (rainwater, etc) that settles to the bottom of the landfill carrying chemicals and particulate from the decomposing material. Federal regulations require that leachate be collected and treated at a wastewater treatment facil- it y that is usually constructed at the landtll site adjacent to the burial area Once treated the water can then be pumped to where wastewater typically goes (in Minnesota that s usually major rivers)