MADISON — The $20 million expansion of the county’s Rodefeld landfill, the key to a comprehensive solid waste strategy that will save county taxpayers an estimated $180 million, extend the life of the landfill another 30 years, and enable the county to continue its clean energy innovation is moving forward, Dane County Executive Joe Parisi announced today.
Parisi’s administration first announced the comprehensive strategy in Spring of 2012, aimed at addressing serious issues that, left unresolved, would have resulted in the landfill reaching maximum capacity later this year. Without an expansion or siting a new landfill, communities like Madison would otherwise have to truck garbage collected curbside to other landfills in Wisconsin – at a significant cost to taxpayers.
“Dane County is home to the hardest-working landfill in the state, if not the nation,” said Parisi. “With this expansion, we’ll save millions in taxpayer dollars, hundreds of acres of productive farmland, and be able to maximize the innovative work we’ve done to generate renewable energy that powers homes and vehicles every day.”
Combined with previous phases of the comprehensive solid waste strategy – a system to encourage garbage to decay faster, and a new year-round Clean Sweep facility to keep hazardous chemicals and unwanted electronics from filling up the landfill – the Rodefeld facility will have enough capacity to last another 30 years.
In addition to generating electricity that is sold to Madison Gas and Electric (MG&E), the landfill turns decaying trash into cleaner, cheaper, homegrown compressed natural gas that powers more than 30 vehicles in the county fleet.
