Dive Brief:

• Delaware County, NY leaders recently toured the county’s new $7.5 million materials recovery facility. The MRF is located at the county-owned Solid Waste Management Center landfill, in Walton.
• The MRF is saving taxpayers a lot of money, said James Eisel Sr., chairman of Delaware County Board of Supervisors. "The fact that we have this MRF center here doing all this recycling and sending it to the marketplace instead of burying it is going to allow [the landfill] to remain in Walton for years," he said.
• In the past several years Delaware County has been working to increase its recycling, and the new MRF fits that focus. The plant is capturing a wider array of items, including various plastics that otherwise might end up in the landfill. Part of the intent of the effort is to extend the landfill’s usable life.

Dive Insight:

Eisel said lengthening the landfill’s lifespan will save taxpayers money. Over the years Delaware County has decreased the waste entering its landfill by two-thirds—from 60,000 tons yearly to 20,000 tons, according to Susan McIntyre, Delaware County’s director of solid waste.