Industry News

LANDFILLS

Expanded North Carolina landfill ready for materials

The Solid Waste Department of Onslow County held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Aug. 19 to mark the opening of Phase 5 of its expansion at the Onslow County Landfill in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

According to a post on the county’s Facebook page, Phase 5 is a $12 million project that will extend the lifespan of the Onslow County Landfill by four-and-a-half years.

The county now estimates the total lifespan remaining at the municipal solid waste (MSW) and construction and demolition (C&D) materials landfill is approximately 25 years if work on anticipated Phases 6 and 7 begins within the next two years. The landfill opened in October 1993 and is located on 800 acres.

In July, the Onslow County Landfill served 11,057 patrons and accepted 11,217 tons of MSW. During that time, the landfill also accepted 2,651 tons of C&D debris and 358 tons of land clearing and inert debris.

According to a tipping fee chart posted on the Onslow County website, the landfill charges $57 per ton for both MSW and C&D materials. The Onslow County Landfill facility charges $80-$87 per ton for materials that require additional treatment, such as asbestos and household hazardous waste.

Recyclable items carry a lower cost, with residents charged $31 per ton for yard waste, bricks and block; $35 per ton (2 cents per pound) for wooden pallets; and $9 per item for obsolete consumer electronics.

In addition to operating the landfill, the Onslow County Solid Waste Department has six drop-off sites that accept household MSW, recyclables and some C&D materials.

The department operates all its sites as an Enterprise Fund, noting that, as a result, no taxpayer revenue is used and the department operates solely on fees collected.

Onslow County is located along the Atlantic Coast, north of Wilmington and south of the Outer Banks region.

FUNDING

Ohio provides brownfield, demolition funding

The Ohio Department of Development has awarded two sets of grants to help local communities clean up contaminated properties. The grants include $67.3 million that will go toward demolition projects and nearly $107 million that will go toward brownfield projects.

The $67 million comes from the state’s Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program. The projects selected will result in the demolition of more than 1,270 structures in nine Ohio counties.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted launched the Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program in 2021 to help communities demolish dilapidated commercial and residential buildings and revitalize surrounding properties to attract investments, businesses and jobs.

“These buildings are standing in the way of progress, so it’s time to knock them down,” DeWine says. “Once these structures are gone, we expect to see new economic development opportunities coming into these neighborhoods.”

Of the more than 25 brownfield grant projects announced, several involve building and site abatement and remediation assessments or work. Among the larger projects is an East Cleveland site where the Cuyahoga County Land Reutilization Corp. will oversee the demolition of an abandoned 13-story high-rise apartment building formerly known as Huron Place Apartments.

Another grant will enable the demolition of several structures in Fairfield, near Dayton, to make land available for commercial development to be overseen by the Butler County Land Reutilization Corp.

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Meridian Waste acquires Total Garbage

Meridian Waste, an integrated nonhazardous solid waste services company based in Knoxville, Tennessee, has acquired waste disposal company Total Garbage LLC, effective Aug. 1.

Acquired assets from Total Garbage, also based in Knoxville, include roll-off trucks, roll-off containers and corresponding commercial permanent and temporary contracts. Meridian Waste will transfer the assets and operate out of its existing hauling location at 6236 Rutledge Pike in Knoxville.

The acquisition helps Meridian to densify its collection routes and to build construction and demolition (C&D) debris volumes in its Poplar View and Riverside landfills, the company says.

“Meridian Waste’s Knoxville, Tennessee, marketplace operations continue to outperform financial expectations year over year in part due to tuck-in acquisitions such as Total Garbage,” says Larry Seivers, Meridian Waste’s area president for Tennessee. “The opportunity to incorporate the assets and personnel of Total Garbage within our culture and to expand our team to reach a greater number of customers is especially rewarding to me and the company.”

Meridian Waste provides residential, commercial and industrial non-hazardous waste collection and disposal services in Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. In addition to a fleet of commercial, residential and roll-off trucks, the company operates 14 hauling companies, five transfer stations/materials recovery facilities, two municipal solid waste landfills and four C&D landfills.

The terms of the asset purchase agreement were not disclosed.

FINANCIAL

California county promotes recycling businesses

San Benito County, located in central California southeast of the San Francisco Bay region, is working in coordination with government and private agencies to promote the Central Coast Recycling Market Development Zone (RMDZ) program.

The San Benito County Integrated Waste Management agency and the wider government of the county have partnered with the California Product Stewardship Council (CPSC) to create an outreach video promoting the RMDZ.

The effort involves cultivating local, sustainability-focused businesses that prevent, reduce, reuse or recycle materials through manufacturing or another value-added process.

The project’s backers say Central Coast RMDZ can offer loans via a California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) program for manufacturers engaged in sustainable business practices.

“Through the RMDZ program, San Benito County is engaging and encouraging regenerative, inventive business practices,” the CPSC says.

The groups involved say, in addition to landfill diversion, recycling can create new business opportunities, including those that allow manufacturers to find new ways to recycle, engage with other businesses and support their communities.

In the video, representatives from Watsonville, California-based Graniterock Marketing and Aromas, California-based Fireclay Tile describe a project funded by the Central Coast RMDZ involving the production of recycled-content tiles created using excess materials from Graniterock’s quarry.