Mount Vernon and Lisbon residents should expect higher tipping fees and new recycling procedures at the Linn County Landfill, which is nearing capacity.
“We’re going to be full in February 2037,” Joe Horaney, deputy director for the Linn County Solid Waste Agency, said at a Lisbon City Council meet- ing Feb. 24. “And that’s not thinking if we have another Derecho 2.0, another Flood of 2008.”
Horaney told the council about new tipping feesthat start July 1:
• Regular landfill waste will increase by $2 per ton, to $50 per ton.
• Bulky wastes will also increase by $2, making it $80 per ton.
• There is also a $2 increase for yard and wood waste, which will add up to $32 per ton.
• The biggest increase in fees will come from commercial recycling. It will increase $15 per ton to $115 per ton. Regular, non-commercial recycling rates will state the same.
Recycling contamination causes higher fees
Horaney sees contamination as the main issue for the commercial recycling increase, as many people are recycling materials that can’t be recycled. The landfill takes recycling at their multiple recycling areas or their Resource Recovery Building, depending on your recycling load.
Although there is no charge for recycling batteries, there will be a change in how Linn County Solid Waste Agency takes in those batteries.
In the past, residents were told to just throw alkaline batteries away, but now Horaney says to just bring all batteries to them. Horaney wants residents to stop throwing alkaline batteries away and to save them until you bring them to the land- fill for sorting. This is because of the resemblance between alkaline and lithium-ion batteries.
“We have anywhere from two to three fires a week in the landfill because of those lithium-ion batteries that get in there,” Horaney said.
Save money by recycling mattresses
Horaney also introduced a new program for mattress recycling. It usually costs $20 to take a mattress to the landfill, but it can only cost $10 per mattress if residents take their mattresses to Willis Dady Homeless Services in Cedar Rapids.
The program was made to help create jobs for the homeless while also saving space at the landfill.
This program is marked as the only mattress recy-cling program in Iowa. Willis Dady Works, at 800 1st Ave NW in Cedar Rapids, accepts mattresses Monday-Friday between 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
The Linn County Solid Waste Agency is partnering with other foundations to recycle books, CD’s and textiles, Horaney said.
“With textile recycling, we’re partnering with St. Vincent DePaul of Cedar Rapids, and they’re taking things they can use and giving it to people that need it.” Horaney said.
New landfill space needed
The Linn County landfill is expected to reach full capacity by February 2037, but it is required to remain open until June 30, 2044. The landfill filled faster than expected because of debris from natural disasters.
To prepare for this transition, the Solid Waste Agency has introduced Forward 2044, an initiative that focuses on finding a new waste facility and exploring other disposal options. Another goal that Horaney discussed with the council was bringing awareness to waste disposal.
The Linn County landfill takes in 600 tons of garbage daily, according to the Forward 2044 website.
“People think about garbage once a week when they have to put out their cans, and nobody’s thinking about what’s going to happen 15 years down the road,” Horaney said.
Linn County Solid Waste Agency is open to going out, educating, and speaking to people on proper recycling and disposal. “Keep talking about our future because we’re planning for that,” Horaney said. “But in the meantime, we’re here, we’re serving Lisbon, all of Linn County.”