More people at home means more trash going to landfills

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) - Trash is piling up faster than usual at the tri-state area’s local landfill and solid-waste disposal facilities.

In the past few months, officials have seen increases in residential waste.

Fred Freiberg, director of the Waste Authority of Jackson County, said the Jackson County Transfer Station is seeing record amounts of trash enter his facility every day.

“We are at the absolute max that we can handle,” Freiberg told the Dubuque Telegraph Herald. “It’s been going on for months now.”

At the Dubuque Metropolitan Area Solid Waste Agency, residential trash disposal has increased by 8.6% compared to last year, and the facility is overloaded with people driving to the landfill looking to drop off their garbage.

“We’ve had 30-vehicle lines,” said Ken Miller, solid waste agency administrator. “People have had to wait to get in.”

Landfill officials attribute the influx of trash to the lockdown produced by the pandemic.

With many people stuck at home, large-scale projects and spring cleanups have been on the rise, and with that has come the sizable quantities of waste that such endeavors produce.

“Everyone is off work, and they are cleaning out their homes or doing some project,” Freiberg said. “You typically see a surge of spring cleaning around now, but this is more than we are used to.”

In the first three months of the year, Freiberg said the transfer station received an additional 200 tons over what was originally projected. He expects April, May and June to be even higher. He estimates that a vehicle comes to the transfer station to drop off trash on average every two minutes.

Processing the swaths of trash is made more difficult by the extra safety measures solid-waste disposal staff are taking to reduce potential exposure to COVID-19. Electronic and tire processing has been reduced, Offices have been closed and disinfectant is being used constantly. All of these actions have made processing the large amounts of trash more challenging.

“Employee safety is the number one focus,” Freiberg said. “It’s challenging because moving garbage out is a public health necessity, so we have to keep working hard on moving it.”

Miller said lines are getting longer in part because of the extra precautions workers need to take when collecting trash.

“Every person we stop on the scale takes a little longer,” Miller said. “It usually involves us asking more questions.”

While residential waste-disposal has increased, Miller said the impact to the landfill has been offset by decreases in solid waste coming from businesses and commercial sources.

Scott Dittmer, owner of Dittmer Recycling, said recycled products have seen a similar shift. Bottles and cans have been on the rise since the pandemic hit the area, while paper and cardboard have been on the decline.

“It just kind of shifted,” Dittmer said. “There’s been less of this and more of that.”

Despite the challenges, Freiberg said he believes the Jackson County Transfer Station should be able to weather the storm. All of the pandemic home projects will eventually need to come to an end.

“Hopefully everyone will finish up soon,” Freiberg said. “This sort of thing can’t go on forever.”