Dive Brief:

• The Sarpy County landfill in Springfield, NE will officially be closed and capped next fall after multiple extensions in the past, as reported by the Omaha World-Herald.
• The site originally opened in 1990 with a projected 18 years of capacity. The 160-acre site has drawn the ire of local residents and farmers who say it creates odors that can travel for miles.
• Waste Connections worked with Sarpy County to build a transfer station at the site for waste to be exported about 60 miles away to the company's landfill in David City.

Dive Insight:

This move was seen as inevitable by local residents, and welcomed by some, though it has also raised concerns about broader environmental effects. Transporting waste to the new location will require a three-hour round trip which could create additional vehicle emissions and wear down roads. At least one local hauler also expressed concerns that if he tried to charge more to reflect these costs he might lose business to larger companies.

For municipalities in other states that are also working to close landfills, the new destination of their waste is an important factor. This has been playing out in Southern California, where residents in multiple areas seem unhappy with hosting landfills. The sentiment has also become common in regards to landfills accepting waste from other states.

While landfills aren't meant to be open forever their closures also don't have isolated effects. In this region of Nebraska other sites have many years of capacity, but in other parts of the country that isn't the case. As sites continue to close in future years, municipalities will have to weigh whether it's better to invest more in long-distance exporting or local diversion efforts.