The Salt River Landfill is a comprehensive solid waste management facility, that serves the Cities of Mesa and Scottsdale and the Town of Gilbert as well as the Salt River Pima-Maricopa and Fort McDowell Indian Communities. All profits from the landfill enterprise are directed to the Community's General Fund where they are used for the various services the Community provides. The landfill also has been a great source of employment opportunities for Community members.
The facility consists of 200 acres of land of which approximately 144 acres are for landfill disposal. The remaining acreage is used for the Material Recovery Facility (MRF) where recyclables are sorted and baled; the facility's administrative, maintenance and scale house buildings; stormwater drainage and retention; and landfill gas collection and flare station. The landfill site is projected to have capacity until 2032 based on the utilization of bioreactor technology discussed below.
The Material Recovery Facility (MRF) owned and operated by ReCommunity opened in January 2001 and continues to increase diversion of waste from the landfill to be recycled. The amount of recyclables received at the MRF has grown to over 85,000 tons annually. The landfill also diverts green waste (tree trimmings, yard wastes and untreated wood) and appliances for recycling.
Recent strides have been made to bring the landfill's goals to fruition. In January 2008, the construction of the gas pipeline connecting our facility's landfill gas collection system to the Tri-Cities Generating Plant was completed. This allows the landfill gas to be beneficially converted into power, and greatly reduce or eliminate the need to burn off the gas. In addition on March 19, 2009, the landfill received EPA approval of its Research Development and Demonstration Project to operate the landfill's Phase VI as a Bioreactor. This process speeds up the decomposition of waste thereby reducing the time period the landfill generates gas and leachate. It will also allow for additional waste placement. As the existing waste decomposes, it will reduce in volume freeing up space.
