Salt Lake County Landfill

The Future of Landfills Along the Wasatch Front

The below article was written by Momentum Recycling “Amglassador” Ryan Goforth:

The Future of Landfills along the Wasatch Front

             One of the most commonly thrown around statistics about the Salt Lake Metropolitan area is that the population is supposed to double in the next 50 years. What does this mean for the residents of the Wasatch Front? It means that more energy and natural resources will be needed to support this population, as well as more goods and services. Which means that residents of this area will consume more and inevitably produce a lot more waste. This could end up being a problem for residents all along the Front because the landfills we currently use will be at capacity in the very near future.

Let’s start with the Salt Lake Valley Landfill, which coincidentally has about 50 years left until it is full. However, this 50-year estimate does not take into consideration that the Wasatch Front population is expected to double in that same time. When that happens, residents will have a very expensive problem to fix for a couple of reasons. To start, landfills are not cheap, they cost taxpayers millions of dollars to start and run. Another reason is that in 50 years, we won’t have room to put a landfill anywhere along the Wasatch Front. This will translate into much higher costs on us to transport waste further away to a new landfill. This will raise huge problems for the future of where we take our trash perhaps sooner than 50 years from now. The Salt Lake Valley Landfill isn’t the only one along the Wasatch Front, however.

The Trans-Jordan Landfill and Wasatch Integrated Landfill are two other major places our trash goes in the Salt Lake area. These landfills are much closer to the end of their life as each one only has about 15 years left. So what happens in 15 years when these landfills can no longer accept trash? Most likely that trash will go to the Salt Lake Valley Landfill, further decreasing the amount of time it will last. It is not all doom and gloom, however; there are easy ways to increase the life of our landfills.

60% of our waste is recyclable. Utah residents need to get to that number. If we could get to 60 percent recycled waste and maybe even higher as the City invests in recycling methods, we could dramatically increase the life of our landfills. This would save Utah taxpayers vast amounts of money in the long run and would conserve important natural resources.

Curbside Glass Recycling Expanding

ABC 4 News covers Momentum Recycling’s expansion of its curbside glass recycling service to Salt Lake County residents in partnership with the Wasatch Front Waste & Recycling District.  View the video clip here.

The Deseret News also visited Momentum’s glass processing facility during our Open House on May 23rd. Click here to view photos.

Open House Press Coverage

 

Utah's Recyclable Goods Industry

Utah Sees Downturn in Recyclable Commodity Prices

Utah's Recyclable Goods Industry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fox 13 News highlighted the recent downturn in the prices of recyclable commodities produced from Salt Lake County’s recycling collection services. Momentum Recycling’s own John Lair discusses the value in creating a local economy for recyclables rather than relying on the global economy to make recycling viable.

Click here to view the video coverage and read the article.

Construction of Colorado Glass Recycling Plant

Resource Recycling’s Q&A on Momentum Recycling’s New Denver Facility

Resource Recycling’s Q&A on Momentum Recycling’s New Denver Facility

At a time when some communities are retreating on glass recycling, Momentum Recycling is doubling down on it.

The Salt Lake City-based secondary glass processor is currently building an $11 million glass cleaning and sorting plant near Denver (see photo to the left and below), enabling bottle-to-bottle recycling there. In Utah, the company already collects and processes glass for use in insulation and other products, sending no glass to landfill.

“The main thing we want people to understand in Colorado is this opportunity to have a true bottle-to-bottle recycling closed-loop system in the state is a real advance forward,” John Lair, president and CEO of Momentum Recycling, told Resource Recycling. “We want people to consider that as they’re purchasing their products.”   Read More –>

Denver Post: Through the looking glass, some envisioning a recycling rebound

The Denver Post highlighted Momentum Recycling’s new Denver facility opening in September of 2016. The facility will process glass from local MRFs (Materials Recovery Facilities) to provide clean, recycled glass (cullet) to local bottle manufacturers.

To read the article, click here.

Jobs at Momentum Recycling

SAVE THE DATE! – Open House at Glass Recycling Plant, May 23 from 1-4pm

Glass Recycling Plant Open House + Launch of the County Curbside Glass Program (Mt Olympus Cove, East Millcreek, Holladay, Murray and Cottonwood Heights)

Save the date! On May 23, 2016 from 1pm-4pm we will hold an open house and self-guided tours of our glass recycling plant (FREE EVENT – no cost!).

Mayor Ben McAdams will join us to celebrate the expansion of the county curbside glass program. We welcome current business clients, residential customers and interested community members to check out our newly installed optical sorter, to learn about the glass collection programs and equipment, and to better understand the importance of resource conservation and waste diversion.

Don’t miss the 2:00pm presentation featuring:

  • County Mayor Ben McAdams
  • Momentum Recycling President and CEO – John Lair
  • Executive Director of Wasatch Front Waste and Recycling District – Pam Roberts

Location: 658 South 4050 West, SLC, UT 84104

**Please RSVP on the Facebook Event Page:   https://www.facebook.com/events/1726028414331604

 

 

 

Is The Glass Half-Full? (Resource Recycling Article)

Is The Glass Half-Full?

In the single-stream era, glass tends to get lumped in the contaminant category, but there might be more solutions available for this important material than many realize.

Momentum Recycling was featured in Resource Recycling’s article this month by Dylan De Thomas.  The article highlights the leaders in glass processing innovations and cities around the country who have developed alternative ways of glass collection.  Below is a link to the article:

Is the Glass Half Full? (Resource Recycling February 2016)

 

Ogden Utah Glass Recycling

Ogden Glass Recycling Program a Smashing Success

Ogden City Glass Recycling

Glass recycling in Ogden, Utah began as a City-provided service in 2013 with the establishment of three (3) drop-off sites located around Ogden.  Reporter Cathy McKitrick of the Standard Examiner checked up on the status of this initiative in her most recent report below:

 

Ogden’s Glass Recycling a Smashing Success?

OGDEN — Since August 2013, Ogden’s glass recycling bins have kept 359 tons — or 718,000 pounds — of bottles, jars and other breakables out of the landfill.

In 2013, the city contracted with Salt Lake City-based Momentum Recycling for three giant collection bins to be stationed around the city. That five-year contract is set to expire in February 2018, according to Momentum President John Lair, and the city pays nothing for the service.

“The bins, the hauling, and the recycling of the glass is all done at our cost. The city provides the locations for the bins, and has personnel monitor the locations to clean up any broken glass that doesn’t find its way into the bins,” Lair said, describing the terms as “a very good deal for the city, given the current tonnage collected.”

However, if Ogden’s current glass recycling rates fail to rise, Lair said that future contracts could require Momentum to begin charging the city fees.

…Read More

 

 

Zero Waste Awards Terra Blight Poster

5th Annual Zero Waste Awards

Momentum Recycling is proud to be a member of the Utah Recycling Alliance (URA) and a sponsor of the annual Zero Waste Awards that recognize local businesses who have made great progress toward becoming zero waste organizations.  Below is a letter from the URA Board Members inviting you to nominate a business for one of this year’s awards as well as to come join us all at the event!


Dear URA Members, Supporters & Friends,

November 4th is Utah Recycling Alliance’s 5th Annual Zero Waste Awards and we’re looking for nominations in three distinct categories: Zero Waste or Pretty Darn Close; Zero to Zero; or Innovate Path to Zero. Do you know of an organization, business or non-profit that has made concerted efforts this year to reduce their waste? If so, we want to recognize and honor them for their efforts. Please forward this nomination form to any organization you believe might qualify. By all means, if you believe your organization qualifies then please nominate yourselves! We have attached a nomination form and sample nomination form to make this as easy for your organization as possible!

A panel of independent judges will evaluate each of the entries and determine the award recipients. The deadline for submission is Friday, October 29. These awards will be presented by Derek Kitchen at the Utah Recycling Alliance’s 5th annual event on Wednesday, November 4, 2015 at Brewvies in Salt Lake City. The evening’s event includes networking, light refreshments, a raffle, and a screening of the the e-waste documentary “Terra Blight”. If your organization wins, you and a guest are invited to attend the event free of charge.  We will send more information about our event in the near future.

Thanks so much!
Your Utah Recycling Alliance Board Members
Zero Waste Awards Terra Blight Poster
Joe + The Toy Truck

The Story of the Toy Truck

From the very start of Momentum Recycling, we felt that it was extremely important to establish honest, genial relationships in the communities we serve.  That interface with the community we knew would be afforded by using semi-automated trucks where the driver exits the truck to complete the collection.

In his “front-line” role as a truck driver for Momentum Recycling, Joe (pictured below) noticed how many kids along his route just LOVED to see him drive up in the big recycling truck.  Many parents had previously told Joe about how much their children looked forward to seeing the truck and how fascinated they seemed by it.

Joe + Toy Truck

One day while at the store, Joe noticed some toy trucks (similar to Matchbox cars) just like the one he drives at Momentum Recycling – so he bought a small stash of trucks and began taking them with him on his routes.

On September 23, the first appropriate opportunity came for Joe to give one of the toy trucks to a little boy who was about 2-years-old.  During his route, a mom and her son were outside and the little boy became so excited to see the truck and started waving at Joe.  So Joe grabbed a toy truck from inside the cab, brought it over and gave it to the little boy.  The mom said, “You made his day!”  …what the mom might not have known, was that it made Joe’s day too.

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Momentum Recycling is so lucky to have employees like Joe and for the opportunity to connect with the people in the communities we serve. Thank you all so much for your continued support!