FY27 Proposed Budget

Upcoming Challenges: •

Battery fires are a regular occurrence at the Landfill. While the battery recycling program is well-used and expanding, the Landfill is experiencing an average of two fires per month and batteries have been found to be the cause of at least 60% of those fires. State-level legislation for Extended Producer Responsibility for batteries may assist in expanding battery recycling programs further, reducing the local cost burden and reducing fires. • Construction and demolition waste in our service area has a significant impact on the lifetime of a landfill cell and volumes are anticipated to increase in coming years. Expanded and new diversion programs are needed to reduce material volume entering the landfill but few outlets are currently available for the materials. Staff continues to explore ideas and possible partnerships to address this challenge, specifically for building rubble, untreated wood waste, and metals. Staff is excited to begin a study (budgeted in FY26) to consider the feasibility of a recycling transfer station and a construction and demolition sorting/recycling facility. • Future monitoring and regulation for PFAS may be financially significant. Staff continues to learn about and stay current with potential changes. • The Recycling Coordinator’s time is stretched thin with the growing demand for compost-related duties in addition to all recycling program management. • Aging infrastructure at the East Side Recycling Center has begun to result in more expenditures in maintenance, repairs and replacements. This budget will include requests for new tables and chairs for the education center and exterior maintenance, and FY26 budget amendment requests for HVAC and fan replacements for tenant spaces. • It will be challenging to accommodate customers and material volumes during the compost pad expansion, anticipated in spring 2026. • Land clearing debris continues to be an issue in the yard waste program, in terms of volumes and contamination; staff is adept at catching contamination before it goes through the grinder but cannot catch 100%. This results in machine downtime and expensive repairs such as belt replacement.

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