Landfill space in Johnson County is quickly diminishing.
The Johnson County Landfill, owned by Deffenbaugh Industries in Shawnee, is scheduled to permanently close by 2027 due to exhausted capacity. Because of increasing volumes of solid waste, that closure may come sooner if disposal alternatives are not created.
In Kansas, it is the responsibility of each county to develop a workable plan for the management of solid waste within that county.
The Johnson County Solid Waste Management Committee began addressing the landfill challenge several years ago. In the executive summary (.pdf file) to the most recent Solid Waste Management Plan, the committee states that Johnson County is an unlikely site for a new landfill.
It generally takes 10 to 15 years to locate, permit and prepare a new landfill site. If the next landfill for Johnson County is out of the county, residents can expect to see significant cost increases for solid waste services.
Delaying the landfill closure
In order to help delay the landfill closure as long as possible, Deffenbaugh has started to change its practices and policies for how they collect and landfill solid waste.
In June, Deffenbaugh began to enforce a residential trash bag limit, which restricts their residential customers to no more than six bags of trash per week. Banning yardwaste from the landfill may be in the future.
Deffenbaugh has proposed to offer yard waste composting program for an annual fee of $149 per household in addition to the regular trash service cost.
In Overland Park, there are drop off recycling centers and special city-sponsored recycling events. Plus, we encourage curbside recycling ($1.75/month) and composting ($2.95/month) and provide tips for residents to cut down on landfill waste.
New initiatives are always underway in the city.
Currently, in Johnson County, the overall recycling rate is 22 percent compared to the national average of 32 percent.
As of 2005, each person in Johnson County generated an average of 4.73 pounds of solid waste per day, with less than 16 percent of their residential trash being recycled. We all will need to start managing what we recycle and what we throw away.