Landfill offers a different sort of recycling

MAT-SU -- Most Valley residents are aware of the recycling efforts available through Valley Community for Recycling Solutions, but another, slightly different recycling effort is going on just down the road at the Mat-Su Borough Central Landfill.

Greg Goodale, solid waste engineer at the central landfill, recently released the year-end totals for recycling through the landfill over the past year. More than 250 tons of material was either brought to the landfill for recycling or took out for reuse by borough residents.

Nearly half that weight came from refrigerators and freezers that were sent for recycling to Alaska Metal Recycling in Anchorage after the Freon was extracted. More than 123 tons of refrigerators and freezers were sent to Alaska Metal, Goodale said.

"With the refrigerators, it's worked out really well because we've been able to recycle them just out of what we charge for Freon removal."

Not putting heavy, blocky items such as refrigerators and freezers into the landfill has another benefit, he said, in time saved. Crushing down and filling around such heavy objects is both difficult and time-consuming.

Almost 82 tons of car batteries were dropped off at the landfill and later recycled, Goodale said, another large portion of the recycling effort at the landfill.

"As far as the car batteries go, they are the number-one most recycled item," Goodale said. Recent figures show 98 percent of car batteries are recycled across the nation.

Another large block of the recycled material came from newspapers. Goodale said more than 44 tons of newspapers were recycled during the past year. A container set up near the landfill entrance offers daily newspaper recycling opportunities.

About 12 tons of material was recycled directly from borough facilities, Goodale said. Office paper is recycled at various borough buildings around the area and hauled to the central landfill for recycling. The paper is later hauled in to Anchorage or, Goodale said, recycled locally.

"If we can, we try to give as much to VCRS as we can," Goodale said.

The remaining 43 tons of material that did not end up in the landfill was carried out by borough residents through a new program made available last year. The program proves true the old saying, "One man's junk is another man's treasure," Goodale said.

Through the program, people can stop by the landfill and dig through the construction and demolition cell, taking home, for free, any salvageable lumber or building materials they can haul away.

"All we require is that, when a person comes in, they sign a waiver," Goodale said.

The waiver is a one-time process and it is kept on file for future visits. Those hoping to scavenge at the cell are able to come and go as often as they like, weighing when they arrive and when they leave so borough staff can track the project. Access to the construction and demolition cell isn't always available, Goodale said, as equipment is sometimes working in the area and access is limited for safety reasons. As another safety measure, access to that cell is prohibited after dark.

The program has been received well, Goodale said, and already a few people are becoming regular visitors. He had one tip for people looking to make use of the program -- don't call to ask landfill staff if anything worthwhile has been dropped at the site.

Goodale said that program and other recycling opportunities available through the landfill are geared to be as fiscally feasible as possible.

"The primary way for us to [recycle] is to do it in a way that isn't causing us to have to raise rates," Goodale said. "We're always kind of keeping an eye on what's possible."

More programs similar to the material salvage program may be on the way. Goodale said he is working with the borough attorney to develop a way to allow people to make use of the usable waste products dropped off at the landfill. The municipality of Anchorage, he said, has a similar program through which materials such as antifreeze or other chemicals can be taken home and used, rather than being dumped into the hazardous waste system.

"It's been a really popular program at the municipality," Goodale said. "They've been able to send out hundreds of pounds of stuff."