In 2018 Summit County introduced the Solid Waste Master Plan as a way to extend the life of the landfill. Eight years later, Summit County Deputy Manager Janna Young said a new cell has been built and disposal practices have been improved.
“Our community has changed a little bit, and so we realize now is the time to kind of revisit that plan and come up with a new goal, because things are getting a little bit more, I don't want to say serious, but we have to start acting if we want to have that landfill live as long as it can,” she said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” Friday.
Young said strategies to extend the landfill’s life includes work from residents and businesses.
“It really requires both the residential and commercial side of the business and the whole community to reduce our waste about 1/3 each year in order to meet that goal.”
Solid Waste Superintendent Tim Loveday said in 2023, the landfill was projected to fill by 2053. Now, the goal is to increase that by another 10 years.
But, Loveday said the landfill’s location on Three Mile Canyon Rd. near Rockport Reservoir makes expanding the site difficult.
“Today, if we were trying to site a new landfill, we couldn't put it on that site. The regulations are much more stiff since EPA came through and promulgated Subtitle D back in the ‘90s,” he said.
Subtitle D refers to a law proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that regulates the management of nonhazardous waste.
To reduce the amount of waste going to the landfill, Summit County has worked to remove food waste and cardboard. A 2019 audit found 26% of solid waste in the canyon landfill is food waste. Young said just reducing food and cardboard could get the county to its goal.
The county partnered with the Park City Community Foundation in 2024 in their Zero Food Waste Initiative to provide curbside pickup for residents.
“Then we are also trying to come up with six remote sites that the county council approved budget for this year, probably starting in the summer, where we will have cardboard, glass and mixed recyclable drop off locations closer to residents,” Young said.
Young said that includes for residents in north and south Summit County.
In an effort to update the 2018 plan, the county launched a survey to better understand the community’s current waste practices, priorities and values. An interactive results dashboard can be found here.
The county will also host two in-person information sessions. The first is set for Feb. 6 at the North Summit vs South Summit high school basketball game in Coalville. Sustainability officials will be at a table outside the game from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
The second is planned for Feb. 10 open house in Park City at the Mountain Regional Water Building. It runs from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
Summit County is a financial supporter of KPCW.
