An ambitious goal for a 30,000-square-foot processing facility near Old Highway 40 with remote collection sites throughout Summit County could help address waste management challenges in the area — but it’s expected to cost around $25 million.
Summit County diverts just 12% of its waste from the landfill for recycling or composting, far below the 32% national average, according to Recycle Utah.
The Park City-based recycling center presented a proposal for a greener community based on a strategic study intended to address the county’s landfill situation and low diversion rate, including building a new recycling center. More than 400 cars go through the facility a day.
Heleena Sideris, the vice chair of the Recycle Utah board, said the organization had originally been looking to move to a larger site to expand its existing services. However, the board realized the challenges in Summit County are much bigger, and more complex, than expected.
Summit County Solid Waste Superintendent Tim Loveday explained the increased tonnage in the Park City area due to the tourism economy and short-term rentals.
The standard resident creates 4.9 pounds per day or 38,450 tons per year. But in Summit County, visitors plus residents create 7.62 pounds of waste per day or 57,000 tons per year. Loveday said that’s an increase of 18,500 tons per year, or a 48% increase in disposal impacts.
That’s why the Summit County Council asked voters to approve the emergency services sales tax, which will be used to offset the costs of tourism on police, fire and solid waste management.
Diverting waste away from the landfill is key to preserving the limited space and moving toward a more sustainable future. Once the Three Mile Landfill is full, it’s full. He expected that could happen by 2053.
“That’s a finite resource that we need to be able to deal with,” Loveday said.
Summit County could consider building a transfer station or shipping out garbage to another landfill, but both come at a high cost. Instead, Loveday pointed to diversion.
“That’s a big impact on our community, all the more reason we need to divert and all the more reason that Recycle Utah needs to be successful,” he said.
Former Recycle Utah board member Jim Bedell said that’s where the nonprofit comes in. The organization is well-positioned to serve a central role in increasing recycling and food waste collection in Summit County.
Recycle Utah accepts all major recyclables, and ones that would otherwise end up in the landfill. The organization takes aluminum cans, American flags, batteries, cardboard, cellphones, fluorescent light tubes, glass, metal, paper, plastic and more.
Bedell noted the low diversion rate in Summit County compared to other communities such as Boulder, 52%, and Aspen, 40%. So Recycle Utah commissioned a Recycling Resource Systems study with the help of the Park City Community Foundation and Park City Chamber/Bureau to figure out how the community could do better.
RRS determined how best to support the nonprofit’s goals through strategic investments, and conducted a feasibility study to evaluate Recycle Utah’s needs, identify new collection and processing methods and provide a cost estimate for a new recycling center.
The study proposed two operating models, the less expensive of which was a 20,000-square-foot building with space for municipal and commercial drop-off that could cost up to $19 million.
The second, more expensive option would be on about 6 acres and have higher operating costs, but more recycling processes. Bedell said the hub-and-spoke model would be the most cost-effective solution to increasing how much recyclables are collected.
He suggested the 30,000-square-foot central processing facility be built on the Gillmor Parcel near Home Depot, and said Recycle Utah has been discussing the idea with Summit County and Park City officials. There would also be remote collection sites in major residential and business areas such as Park City, the Snyderville Basin and Coalville.
RRS’ study also found that adding sorting and expanded bailing capabilities at the future Recycle Utah facility would reduce greenhouse gas emissions from collection vehicles, and potentially reduce costs for recycling.
“We know we need to do this, and we need to set up these facilities to serve the whole community. So, how are we going to pay for it? $25 million is not a small amount of money,” Bedell said.
Bedell acknowledged the cost impact on city and county governments to help fund the project, but he emphasized the importance of investing in sustainability and the infrastructure needed to support the Recycle Utah plan.
Community members were asked to sign on to show their support for the project with the hopes of imploring elected officials to prioritize exploring the idea this year.