A mass burn garbage incinerator, new landfills and waste transfer stations are all under consideration in the proposed Lake County’s Solid Waste Management Plan, which is expected to be approved by the end of the year.

The Solid Waste Agency of Lake County recently drafted an updated five year plan, which addresses the shrinking capacity of the county’s two landfills with a mass burn incinerator and solid waste transfer stations. These were not alternatives when the plan was last updated in 2004, said Walter Willis, SWALCO’s executive director.

There are about 60 mass burn incinerators in the U.S., mostly located on the East Coast, Willis said.

Another option is building garbage transfer stations that keep waste stored locally until it’s moved to a distant landfill outside the county, he said.

The plan doesn’t address possible locations or costs, Willis said. Rather, it outlines what is allowable, not necessarily what the county must do to address waste issues, he said.

The construction of landfills or expansion of current ones are also options as was the case in the 2004 plan. Other technologies that convert waste into energy using heat, chemical or biological means are again on the table.

Dennis Bahr, a member of SWALCO’s Citizen Advisory Committee, a group of Lake County residents who helped draft the plan, prefers the county turn away from landfills, even though it’s in the plan.

“I don’t think a landfill is a right option moving forward,” Bahr said. “We need to set the precedent and recognize that we should move beyond landfills and manage waste in more effective way.”

Lake County has about a 10-year capacity left in two of its landfills in Grayslake and Zion, Willis said. The Countryside Landfill  in Grayslake has about nine years left while the Zion landfill has about five years. However, the Zion landfill is proposing an expansion that would give it about eight years, according to the SWALCO report. Lake County also uses Pheasant Run Landfill in Wisconsin, Willis said.

When the next waste plan is updated in 2014, the population is expected to increase by about 40,000 to an estimated 735,000 residents, according to the SWALCO plan report. By 2030, Lake County’s population is expected to be about 841,000, a 30 percent increase from 2000.

In 2008, the county’s two landfills were filled mostly with paper followed by plastic, wood, food, textiles, metals, electronics and glass, the report said.

The SWALCO board of directors will vote on the plan at 7 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 22 at the Hainesville Village Hall, 100 N. Hainesville Rd.

While SWALCO drafted the plan and expects to approve it this month, its vote acts as a recommendation to the Lake County Board, Willis said.

After SWALCO’s vote, the plan is expected to pass through various county committees before being considered by the board as early as December, Willis said.

By Sue Ter Maat,
Triblocal.com reporter