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Eight years ago, local artists, musicians and other creatives proposed a “Columbus Needs a Mountain” movement that suggested the idea of constructing a man-made mountain to give our flat region a bit of a geographical facelift. That effort didn’t gain a whole lot of traction, but we are still getting that mountain nonetheless. The new Columbus mountain is located 15 minutes south of Downtown, just off of State Route 665. Currently around 85 feet tall, the SWACO landfill will top out at 140 feet, making it the single highest point in all of Franklin County.
We recently toured both the facilities with John Remy, Director of Communications at the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio, to learn more.
In 2009 alone, SWACO saw a total of 816,000 tons (over 1.6 billion pounds) of trash dumped into the landfill. While the sheer volume may sound astonishing, more troublesome to John Remy is the amount that could be recycled. “The majority of what comes into the landfill is recyclable,” he explained. “Paper and cardboard make up roughly 40% of what comes in. Obviously, there’s a message that needs to get out there.”
The majority of the trash coming into the landfill comes from businesses and commercial accounts within Franklin County. “They’re throwing away the most trash, so they’re also throwing away the most recyclables,” said John. “Many businesses could possibly be throwing away money, because cardboard and paper are currently going for around $100 per ton on the recycling market.”
The SWACO landfill is easily visible from Interstate 71, located just west of the highway and south of London-Groveport Road (SR-665). The long flat slope resembles more of a rolling hill than a mountain, yet the peak has already topped 80 feet, with more on the way. “The value in a landfill is in its airspace,” explained John. Current EPA standards will allow the height of the landfill to top out at 140 feet (around the height of a 12-story building) which will solidify the ground there as the highest peak in Franklin County.
Over the past few years, SWACO has turned their attention towards utilizing landfill trash as an energy resource. In September 2008, they opened the Green Energy Center, a small building located nearby that pulls methane gas from the landfill, runs it through an industrialized cleaner, and processes it into fuel. “Some of the gas is compressed and used for fuel in our vehicles, and some of it is sent into our microturbine,” said John. “The microturbine creates electricity, which is used to power the Green Energy Center, so it basically powers itself.”
Another way that SWACO strives to be greener is through their recycling drop-off locations found throughout the region. Their program has seen a 90% growth rate over the past five years with over 15,000 tons of material collected in 2009. “People are understanding that we don’t have all the room in the world to throw things away, and that we are throwing away energy,” said John. “We are throwing away products that could be made into new products. We’re starting to understand how to treat trash as a resource.”
SWACO also hosts an annual program called The Emerald Awards, which recognizes innovative ideas in the field of waste reduction and recycling. The 5th Annual event takes place on May 13th at the Aladdin Shrine Center, and nominations are currently being accepted. “It seems that everywhere we go in Greater Columbus, people want to tell us about their green project or idea,” said SWACO Executive Director Ron Mills. “We encourage all to enter and let everyone in Central Ohio know about their green accomplishments.”
If you’d like to submit a person, business or organization worthy of some green recognition, you can fill out the nomination form before March 26th.
After our tour ended, we ran a few extra questions by John for a short Q&A session:
Q: The topic of a city-wide recycling program comes up quite regularly on Columbus Underground. Do you have any thoughts on what that kind of system could look like?
A: You have to understand that SWACO serves all of Franklin County and a little bit of surrounding counties too. We’re not here to tell Central Ohio cities how to do things… we’re here to help those cities do things. So it’s really up to the City of Columbus to decide how best to serve its customers. We know that they have all kinds of things on their plate in terms of funding or manpower issues to accomplish what they want to do. So in terms of Columbus and how they recycle, it’s really best left up to Columbus government to decide how to proceed with that. We do provide the drop-off boxes, those are all SWACO boxes that you see in the city, as a service to all residents within our district. People continue to use them more every year. It’s obvious to us that many people in Columbus want to recycle.
Q: One of our readers mentioned that their office uses the JITRS recycling program, and recently received a notice that it may be discontinued. Can you tell us a bit more about that?
A: The JITRS program was designed several years ago to collect and recycle clean office paper, which has a high value in terms of reselling it on the recycling market. The program was designed to assist offices that were too small to be serviced by a commercial hauler, and it was also designed to pay for itself and cover expenses. The program works well in terms of collecting all the paper, but it does not cover all of the expenses that we need to keep it running. So, is it the best use of taxpayer dollars? That’s what’s up for debate right now. Can we get a private hauler to pick up where we may leave off? That’s what we’re working on. We’re working to see if there’s another way to do the program, so we had to let people know about the possibility of the program closing down. But no word yet. We’re hoping to find a private hauler that we can work out a deal with.
Q: What other types of small business recycling outreach is being done by SWACO?
A: There’s a number of programs on our website under the business tab, which offers advice and information on recycling. There’s even a do-it-yourself waste audit. You can download it and find the things that you can easily recycle in your office. We also have quarterly meetings with local business leaders to bring them up to date with various programs. We conduct a business roundtable where certain businesses that have been successful in cutting waste can share their advice and ideas with their peers.
Q: Another question that comes up regularly is the topic of e-waste. What is SWACO doing to keep electronics out of the landfill?
A: About four or five years ago we used to hold e-waste collection drives, but since then, the private industry has really stepped up. Around seven to ten companies in Franklin County are now recycling e-waste. So in response, SWACO has stepped back and reallocated taxpayer dollars to other programs where the need is greater. If you go to our website, there’s a page with info on getting rid of e-waste, which lists all of the companies in Franklin County that we know are recycling e-waste.
Q: You provide regular tours of the landfill for various groups. Is it safe to assume that it’s typically a bit of an eyeopening experience for people to see where all of their trash ends up?
A: Oh, yes. From grade-school students to government officials to neighborhood groups… for anyone to go up on that landfill and see what we’re throwing away… it is definitely a “wow” experience when it’s right there in your face. You see that there is so much we’re throwing away that doesn’t have to be there… paper, cardboard, plastic, cans and bottles. When people see the vastness of it right in front of them, they then understand better what they need to be doing differently at home or at work.
More information about SWACO can be found at swaco.org.
Great work Walker. I consider myself really uninformed on this topic in general and it’s important. Thanks.
I’m in the same boat. I do what I can to recycle, but a trip to the landfill (my first) was still pretty eye-opening for me. Already thinking about organizing a CU meetup down there when it’s a little warmer out. Seeing the hill mostly covered with snow really dampens the effect (and practically negates all of the smell). Gotta head down there again when it’s nice and ripe. ;)
Seriously though, the fuel conversion going on at their Green Energy Center is really amazing. One of those one-of-a-kind-in-the-country cutting edge projects that we should be proud of as a region.
I was on a tour at the LF with about 20 school kids in late August. Yum.
Good work on this Walker. More people need to know the impact of what the “away” is when something is thrown there. That and the fact that it’s mostly recyclable materials in the LF. thanks.
A thousand years from now, archeaologists will assume this stuff was sacred to us, as we built such a monument.
lol alexs you’re spot on.
A funny thing happened to me a few weeks ago behind the Emporium Square Kroger. As many of you know, SWACO has single stream recycling bins behind many area Krogers for public use.
So while I’m doing my civic duty and dumping my recyclables, a security guard for the shopping center pulls up and asked me, “if I worked there?” I was a little pissed that he pulled up and got in my grill for no reason, and he said, “Don’t get lippy with me!” I then proceeded to inform him what and who those bins were for, at which point he said, “You’re on camera, you know?” Obviously he thought I was illegally dumping and was a little out of touch with recycling, but wow, my bins have recycling emblems and everything.
Recycling is something all of us can participate in. When we recycle we will not only be reducing the size of the landfill, but also the material will be used for another for another purpose.
Oh, Walker… this is one of those topics I sort of try not to think about because I just end up frustrated and pissed.
I couldn’t believe it when I moved to Columbus in 1999, and there was no recycling. I left for while, came back in 2004, and STILL no recycling program.
I lived for many years in Binghamton, NY – attending high school and college there. They started recycling (county based) in 1988ish (give or take a year). It was mandatory – and I remember my step-dad was NOT happy about it, but he did it, and now completely sees the value in it. Then, there wasn’t much that could be recycled – you had to carefully watch the numbers on the plastics (and not many things were even labeled then), and everything had to be totally sorted. The way they paid for the program (and garbage hauling in general, since it wasn’t part of the tax) was that all garbage had to be in city-approved bags. These bags were purchased in specific locations, were 10 to a box and the box was $6-7 (this is in 1993, when I was in my first apt and realizing I was actually going to have to figure this crap out).
There were fines for the the folks who didn’t comply, and the city was pretty hard core about enforcement – but truly, it seemed that everyone got on board quickly. By the time I was living in my own ‘hood, in a crappy part of town, on trash day, everyone’s trash looked about the same. People were doing the right thing, because they’d been incentivized to do so.
I can’t remember how they went about the public outreach of the program – I was in school, and I remember it being part of one of my classes at some point… and I went home and taught my parents what we were going to do. And really, I was in charge of the recycling for as long as I lived with them.
So, again – here I am. I still can’t believe Columbus doesn’t have a mandatory program. Sure, I haul all my crap to the Swaco containers @ Westgate Park (and they are ALWAYS full, even though they just added another container) – but the city is really missing the boat.
It makes me crazy to go to friend’s houses that don’t recycle. I feel so dirty, putting that can/bottle/box in the trash.
Walker, you were smart to take this tour in the dead of winter. I toured the facility in the heat of the summer…whew, the smell was pretty intense.
In your interview series, it might be good to ask our electeds and council members if they’ve ever toured the site, it’s incredibly eye-opening. I made some of our managers go out there so they would better understand the need for recycling in our restaurant group.
The city of Columbus needs to enforce recycling not make it an option. This is 2010 it should be a givin you have to recycle.
@Urbanboi, I know! Recycling is hardly a progressive idea in 2010.. I was shocked at the lack of recycling when I moved to Columbus in 1996…it’s sad that little has changed in Columbus recycling since then. When I meet folks that are new to Columbus, they too are shocked at our lack of recycling efforts.
I agree that curbside recycling is ideal…but the drop-off bins are a pretty decent option for now. The big problem isn’t lack of recycling by homeowners, it’s lack of recycling by big commercial and industrial waste generators. Curbside recycling won’t address that problem. Someone needs to start a massive education campaign to show business owners that recycling makes sense for their bottom line, as it reduces their waste disposal costs. When you go to SWACO’s landfill and see an entire truckload of cardboard getting unloaded – that’s not from Mrs. Smith’s house…it’s from a Kroger or a Best Buy somewhere (just picking a business out of a hat.)
Unfortunately, all it takes is a few more people every year paying Rumpke, or taking their recyclables to the bin to give the city an excuse to do nothing innovative.
Once again, the people trying to do the right thing, are giving the city the cover it needs to do nothing.
It’s hard to suggest or even force people to recycle if the city does not even do it itself. Anyone remember the artical when they told people where to take their Christmas trees to be disposed of , and in the same article they said they were tossing them in the land fill. Double standards don’t work it has to be all or nothing.
yep here it is
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/03/02/Yardwaste.ART_ART_03-02-09_A1_2JD354C.html?sid=101
“After residents complained, the city agreed last week to pick up Christmas trees as part of its bulk waste program. But instead of taking the trees to compost centers, as they were in the past, they are being dumped at the city’s landfill.
“
A fine for not recycling may help some people remember.
MissKitty, Xmas trees are still covering campus! They are rotting in alleys and streets, they will probably be kindling just in time for football season.
Sorry to hear that Liz.
What a shame it is. There must be a better way that will really work for Columbus.
In the print room at our office there’s a large blue paper recycling bin. Next to it is a trash can. I can’t begin to count how many times I’ve pulled paper out of the trash can & placed it in the recycling bin. At least 4-5 times a day.
My cousin lives in Toronto and they have 3 bins: Recycling, kitchen waste (compostable stuff), and trash. The trash can is tiny. Years ago (I think in 1991) when my aunt lived in Germany, she had to walk down to the corner and deposit kitchen waste into a common recycling bin. Other U.S. cities are doing more too. It’s a real shame that we can’t do this in Columbus.
My family of 4 recycles and composts. We rarely fill up half the city provided trash can. It’s not that hard!
You can’t expect every single person to recycle if they are not provided with recycling service and bins. My family currently collects paper, plastic and aluminum and has to make a DRIVE to the corresponding… what d’ya call it? Recycling dumpster?
Walker, I liked the photo going all the way across in this one instead of a small one on the side as you usually post them. I also like the fact this article is longer than some of the other front page posts of yours I’ve read.
And, of course, the fact intelligent conversations and civic relations can form around this and other posts is still something I am trying to bend my mind around.
I would be seriously interested in forming a group that goes around to the largest residential complexes in the city and try and explain the benefits to them of recycling. I currently live at Brewer’s Yard Apartments with about 350 units and many more residents and nobody has the option to recycle a single thing — well without bagging it and walking it over to the Kroger next to us (which is easier than a lot of other situations). The point remains, many large residential complexes don’t offer recycling, even if a large portion of their residents would utilize such a service.