Central Landfill

Central Landfill Property

The Central Landfill is the only Class I landfill operating in the Borough. The Central Landfill began operations at its current site in 1980 with a small unlined disposal area. By Resolution 85-35 which was signed on March 19, 1985, the 620 acres commonly referred to as the Borough Central Landfill was officially set aside by the Borough Assembly for future landfill use. On August 1, 1989, Resolution 89-182 officially categorized the land set aside for the landfill as "Sanitary Landfill", in accordance with Borough code.

Crevasse Moraine Trails

The Solid Waste Division entered into a management agreement with the Borough Land Management Division to manage a temporary set of trails on the landfill site officially known as the "Crevasse Moraine Trail System". These trails are allowed to operate on the landfill proper until such time that the land may become required for landfilling operations.

Permits and Plans

Solid Waste Permit

The Solid Waste Division operates under ADEC Central Landfill Permit SW1A007-20. The permit lifespan is five years and includes many addendums and sub-plans such as the Solid Waste Division Operating Plan and the Central Landfill Sequencing Plan.

Sequencing Plan

The Central Landfill has a future lifespan currently calculated to be approximately 160 years. For more information on future planning, refer to the Sequencing Plan which is a commissioned study and planning document required as part of our permit to operate. The permit is issued by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC). The current plan was commissioned and completed in 2014.

Landfill Operations

Central Landfill operations include:

• Household Waste Cell (working face): The most expensive to build, the household waste cell is a working lined cell for disposal of leachate producing materials such as daily household waste;
• Construction and Demolition Cell (C&D): An unlined cell for disposal of materials that do not present a hazard to the environment such as wood, concrete, tires and other construction debris;
• Asbestos Cell: A toxic material, once asbestos is buried it may never be uncovered again;
• Hazardous Waste Processing Facility: This facility takes oils, antifreeze, pesticides, herbicides, asbestos, other dangerous or flammable liquids, batteries and electronics;
• Composting Classroom: The Borough sponsors FREE training for those wishing to learn to compost. The savings from keeping this waste from the household waste cell easily pays for the cost of the program. Find upcoming classes on our Recycling page;
• Facilities maintenance operations; and
• Vehicle and equipment maintenance operations.

Transfer Stations

See all Transfer Sites

The Borough operates a system of five Transfer Stations and eight Transfer Sites. Transfer Stations are operated by Borough employees and Transfer Sites are operated at contracted facilities or unattended.

Transfer Stations and Sites offer waste disposal services to citizens and small businesses at a nominal fee. Small quantities of waste oils, antifreeze, batteries and refrigerators are taken at some facilities. See the individual transfer site link or call the site you are interested in to determine specific services offered at that site.

Fees are calculated by measuring the cubic yardage of waste for anything over two bags of waste. It is in your best interest to reduce your waste through recycling and composting, then compacting what is left prior to disposal. This reduces your wastes volume which will result in a lower rate at the gatehouse. To calculate a cubic yard, multiply length x width x height and divide by 27.

Many techniques are available to reduce volume and therefore reduce the cost to the consumer. See "Recycling" below for some good tips.

Community Clean-up Services

Problem Reporter

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The Community clean-up program provides a coordination service for spring clean-up through Community Councils and an application process to the Borough. The service offers dumpster and trash bag resources to these community directed volunteer efforts.

Trash piles, refrigerators, waste found in woods, at end of roadways, on right of ways, etc. and reported by citizens provides a follow up capability and helps us maintain our pristine environment. Look for the new Borough Trash App coming soon. The app will allow exact coordinate and picture reporting. Please report suspected illegal dumping and dumpers.

Recycling

The Recycling Program provides resources for alternatives to landfilling and coordinates efforts to divert waste from the landfill. The exorbitant cost of waste management and landfilling makes recycling an attractive alternative. The recycling program encompasses several methods to accomplish the goal of diversion:

1. The Valley Community for Recycling Solutions: A Borough sponsored recycling non-profit providing management services and manpower for recycling education, collection of clean recyclables, and re-use product sales to offset costs to run the program and facilities.
2. Recyclable Hauling from Outlying Areas: Recycling non-profits volunteer and are managed through Community Councils. The Borough provides older 40-yard containers, and communities use grants to refurbish the old containers to hold recycling materials. The Borough hauls the full recycling containers from the Transfer Stations to the VCRS recycling facility.
3. Membership in the Mat-Su Borough Zero Waste Coalition: This coalition offers Borough guidance to a close-knit group of energetic recycling entities looking to aggregate recycling energy to increase the diversion of recyclables from the landfill and ultimately provide materials to the recycling center or directly to end users reusing recyclables. The coalition consists of the Solid Waste Division, the Valley Community for Recycling Solutions (VCRS), Community Council members, recycling non-profit members and community members at-large.
4. Composting Education Outreach: This program offers FREE classes in Basic, Vermi, and Master composting in order to help divert up to 30% of the Borough's food scraps, yard waste and other compostable materials to create a valuable commodity (compost) while teaching people to divert this heavy and biologically active waste stream from the landfill.

TIPS FOR RECYCLING

1. Recycling: The VCRS recycling facility and some Transfer Stations take recyclables in accordance with published brochures for free. This can considerably reduce the volume of waste you seek to dispose of. Recycling can reduce your trash by up to 50%.
2. Composting: The Borough offers free composting classes at the Central Landfill. Composting of food scraps can reduce your trash by 15-30%.
3. Burning: Burning some trash can reduce your volume by up to 30%. Be careful to follow Borough guidance and ensure proper permits are obtained. Some times of the year are especially susceptible to fire dangers. Only burn with a proper fire mitigation plan and permit (if required) in place.