Programs, get your programs
Facts O' Fun
Don't call it a dump
100
(Kris)
RE + Program.....what's that?
- Approximately 70% of what ends up in the landfill every year is recyclable. Preventing 75% of that material from entering the waste stream would divert 450,000 tons from the landfill and eliminate approximately 600,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually.
- Diverting 450,000 tons of waste to recycling facilities could add 500 green jobs to the regional economy
- The RE + program addresses these issues by re-imagining our solid waste system from a disposal based system to one that is focused on reduction, recovery, recycling and regeneration.
100
(Prakash)
SWD & Star Wars?
The Mole....take it away Prakash
100
(Kris)
AREA 9.....where the aliens are?
- Cedar Hills Regional Landfill is broken up into multiple areas called garbage cells and we are filling up the last garbage cell: Area 8.
- To extend the life of the landfill there is one more area we could develop into another garbage cell: Area 9 where business operations are currently located.
- In preparation for breaking ground on Area 9, all facilities within that footprint need to be torn down and employees relocated.
200
(Leshea)
Clean Up Lift.....not a Tik Tok dance?
- More affordable for low-income customers to dispose of materials at KC recycling and garbage transfer facilities.
- Started in 2019; expanding and saving customers more each year.
200
(Susan)
Nasal Ranger...a SWD Super Hero?
Our Landfill Gas group operates 24/7. They do odor checks 5 times per day and 4 of those odor checks they go into the neighborhoods surrounding the landfill.
Odor checks are done for safety reasons and so that we can be good environmental stewards. We want to minimize any odors we are causing and/or be alerted to problems.
We have approximately 8 certified Nasal Rangers. These rangers first detect smells with their own noses. If they smell anything, then they use their Nasal Ranger – Field Olfactometer device to measure the strength of the odor. They keep detailed logs and will take appropriate action depending on the strength of the odor.
200
(Leshea)
SCRTS & NRTS...that's just jibberish
- South County Recycling & Transfer Station Project to replace Algona
- North East Recycling & Transfer Station Project to expand services in North East King County.
- NERTS still in the planning and development stages.
- SCRTS – Opening in 2026, will incorporate Green design, expand services, provide apprenticeship/training opportunities, and public art additions.
300
(Lisa)
C&D...for those about to rock, go elsewhere
Dump bed vehicles/trailers with loads of C&D are not accepted at KC Transfer Stations. They must use C&D designated recycling or transfer facilities. Materials are banned from landfill disposal:
Clean wood (clean, untreated, unpainted), Cardboard, Metal, Gypsum scrap (new), Asphalt paving, bricks, and concrete
SWD has a C&D enforcement program providing education and assistance to demolition and construction contractors in understanding the C&D requirements for their jobsites and investigating and fining violators.
Stats:
61K Tons of clean wood per year
28K jobs created in this industry alone
583 mil tons of C&D saves 4,300 acres of landfill space
300
(Jemima)
Tough love is for the birds
-Innovative Wildlife Solutions manages U.S Fish and Wildlife Depredation Permit to support human health and safety, and to prevent damage to our Landfills and Transfer Station facilities
-By Federal and State law, we are permitted to “take” (kill) a specified number of certain bird species a year
-85% of time is spent at Cedar Hills, 15% at Transfer Stations and site visits to closed landfills
300
(Lisa)
More like a park....but with science
- A landfill provides abundant food and shelter that gives rise to its own ecology and is home to many Wildlife including deer, elk, bald eagles, black bear, and cougars.
- Home to many foraging birds that can be in large congregations ranging from, crows, seagulls, hawks, and starlings. Eagles and raptor birds are there for food source, 60% of the time they are out at the rivers and lakes, and then during January and February Eagles come to Landfill, because fish are dormant and the landfill becomes their major food supply. Other small mammals who are here year round are rats, mice, voles, coyotes, and racoons
- This sanctuary setting provides comfort, safety and an amazing place for new the offspring of those animals. The landfill provides the animals with protection from hunters but also a place where they can have their young and live freely out of harms way.
- The guts of the average landfill are actively decomposing thanks to tens of thousands of kinds of bacteria and fungi.
400
(Aryana)
Is Green Diesel Actually Green?
- The division currently consumes approximately 800,000 gallons of conventional diesel fuel producing 10,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions. Renewable or “Green” diesel could reduce emissions by 10,000 metric tons.
- SWD is piloting a Green diesel program testing it in our long haul tractors driven by our Truck Drivers.
- Renewable diesel (RD) is a fossil free fuel that is created from renewable feedstocks. Because it comes from renewable feedstock like animal fat or soybeans there is a considerable reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
- Renewable diesel is chemically almost the same as traditional diesel so in theory it should not take any change in infrastructure or cause more maintenance or reduce fuel efficiency when used. SWD is testing that theory.
- And yes, Green Diesel is actually green as they add a green dye to it.
400
(Jemima)
7/10 Schedule...a dirty word to some
- Employee works 7 days in a row, 10 hours per day followed by 7 days off
- Schedule created over 30 years ago
- Schedule is highly attractive to prospects/employees and receives a 14.3% premium but is very costly and difficult to manage
- To our knowledge, the 7x10 schedule exists with us and an Alaska mining industry company
400
(Aryana)
Anaerobic digestion gives us gas...but in a good way:)
- Food waste with an estimated annual generation of 931 million tons (at the consumer level) is turning into a significant environmental concern (Forbes et al., 2021).
- Anaerobic digestion has been proposed as a relatively cost-effective technology for renewable energy production and waste treatment of landfill and composting food waste.
- Anaerobic digestion is used as part of the process to treat biodegradable waste and sewage sludge. As part of an integrated waste management system, anaerobic digestion reduces the emission of landfill gas into the atmosphere.
500
(Aaron)
Milton...Pierce Co. has your stapler
KC currently contracts to provide Solid Waste services for 37 out of the 39 cities in King County as well as unincorporated King County. The only two that we don't service is Seattle and Milton.
Seattle because they are large and have their own transfer stations and their own contracts with haulers to take garbage to private landfills in Eastern WA and OR.
Milton because they have a contract already with Pierce Co as they are technically closer to their facilities than ours even though they are in KC.
500
(Susan)
Drone tech...it's not just for Amazon
SWD uses Drone Technology for the following reasons:
- Check the landfill for methane leaks
- Check the landfill for settlement to perform a settlement calculation
- Topography mapping at our sites including closed and active landfills using imagery and lidar mapping.
We currently use a third party company for drone use now but are chartering a program to use our own licensed drone pilots in FESS hopefully this year.
500
(Prakash)
BEW - Got Gas?
When waste is buried in the landfill it decomposes and produces landfill gas. At Cedar Hills, a network of pipes captures that gas and routes it to an onsite gas-to-energy facility operated by Bio Energy Washington (BEW). The BEW plant processes the gas into pipeline-quality biogas and electric power.
•Cedar Hills Landfill – Largest landfill renewable energy producers in the USA
•Generated over 16 million Therms of Biogas on average over the last 5 years
•15 million KWH of electricity over the same period
•Generated $4.5 million on average per year
•The energy generated is equivalent to the energy needed to meet the natural gas needs of 19,600 homes.