Recycling would extend life
of Thoreau facility by 20%-50%

ABOVE: A plastic bottle lies in front of the recycling bins at the Rainbow Recycling Center on Friday afternoon. The center recently stopped taking plastic due to the cost of recycling the product, leaving the Gallup residents scratching their heads as to where to recycle their plastics. [photo by Brian Leddy / Independent] BELOW: When customers drop off recyclable materials, such as plastic bottles, they sort the materials according to type at the recycling drop-off center in Farmington, New Mexico. The city is working to implement a curb-side pick up program for recyclable materials. [photo by Jeff Jones / Independent]

By Kevin Killough
Staff writer

GALLUP — Despite rumors to the contrary, Gallup is not running out of landfill space. Executive Director of the Northwest Regional Solid Waste Authority Kit South said he isn’t sure where these rumors come from.

“I don’t know why someone would start something like this,” South said.

According to South, the current landfill in Thoreau could easily last some 80 years. The rumor is similar to the panics of the 1980s that were sparked by media coverage of a New York trash barge that couldn’t find a landfill to unload at as it made its way all down the East Coast. This led to the false claims that the nation was running out of landfill space and sparked a frenzy in the creation recycling programs and policies.

South said that the city only has about 12 to 15 months on the current cell within the landfill before it’s full. But within six to 10 months, a new cell will be ready to begin accepting material. Building a cell is more than just digging a hole in the ground, South said. There are a wide range of requirements from lining to protect from seepage into the ground water to methane vents to prevent explosions. Each cell costs about $500,000, and recycling can extend the life of a cell, which currently takes 12 years to fill.

“Recycling could extend the life of the landfill 20 to 50 percent,” South said.

Gallup has one drop-off center by the Larry Brian Mitchell Recreation Center, referred to as the Rainbow Recycling Center. Currently, there are no curbside recycling programs. South said that there have been discussions about picking up recycling materials, but such programs require money that isn’t available at this time. Though, the authority is supportive of doing it.

“I’m totally for that. We got to do that,” South said.

Whether the program would actually pay off is uncertain.

According to a 1996 study by the Reason Foundation, curbside recycling programs in poor communities usually cost more money than they save. The problem is that people don’t utilize the program, so not enough material gets diverted to make the program cost effective. South said that it won’t do much good without the community’s dedication.

“We need the whole community involved in it,” South said.

The Rainbow Recycling Center is entirely volunteer-run, and the city only provides a space for it. This leaves it to be tended by the volunteers in their spare time. Often, the bins are overflowing and the grounds unkempt.

Farmington has a much larger and more organized recycling center. According to Farmington Budget Officer Steve Ellison, Farmington’s center diverts about 100 tons of material a year away from their landfill. The city provides the property and about $5,000 yearly for property maintenance. A private company handles solid waste in Farmington, and the city pays the company $5,000 yearly for operations at the center.

Farmington is also looking into the possibility of providing curbside recycling. The city put out requests for proposals for curbside recycling collection services. Whether or not such a program would pay off in Farmington will depend on what the service providers propose.

“We’re trying to decide if it’s cost efficient to offer that,” Purchasing Officer Edward Smylie said.