Garbage haulers skeptical of Kent County’s $380 million plan to reduce burying trash - MLive.com

Garbage haulers skeptical of Kent County’s $380 million plan to reduce burying trash - mlive.com

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – West Michigan commercial trash haulers are skeptical of Kent County’s $380 million plan to nearly double the amount of garbage diverted from landfills and instead convert it into other uses.

“The people in this room all believe in exploring and moving forward in a new way of reusing refuse,” Russ Boersma, a general manager with Arrowaste, told the county’s Board of Public Works on Thursday, June 15.

“There are options that can make this happen while both meeting county diversion goals as well as protecting area businesses and residents from skyrocketing rates. Another plan is possible: one that puts less trash in the ground and reuses more. Let’s be patient enough for that plan.”

Boersma’s comments were joined by representatives from other area commercial waste haulers – Waste Management and Republic Services – who took aim Thursday at the county’s proposed $380 million private-public partnership to construct a waste processing facility and sustainable business park.

Largely, the waste hauler representatives voiced concerns about the project increasing trash bills for residents and businesses in the county, that there isn’t a back-up plan, that the new waste processing facility might not meet intended goals and that the proposed project costs may still increase.

For about 42% of the county’s population, the cost for waste haulers to drop off their trash at county facilities will nearly double, under tentative rates associated with the project that were unveiled Thursday.

The remaining population in the urban core, which already pays more, would see the cost of dropping off trash increase by about 17% to 27%.

The rates would go into effect starting in 2026 and are still subject to change, officials said.

A majority of those who spoke Thursday were in support of the plan, which goes back before the county’s Board of Public Works on July 13 to essentially recommend the project to the Kent County Board of Commissioners, which would give the project the final sign-off.

Kent DPW Director Dar Baas said his department has engaged the waste hauling community on the project since its inception, and that their input has helped shape it.

“The waste hauling industry continues to signal they are interested in alternatives to landfilling and we think this is a win-win-win for our community, the DPW and waste haulers that want to rely less on landfill disposal,” Baas said. “For too long Michigan has been a cheap dumping ground for trash and the Sustainable Business Park will help change that by increasing recycling and boosting our energy independence right here in Kent County.”

Kent DPW has been working with Canada-based Anaergia on the project since about October 2021. If given the greenlight later this year by commissioners, the waste processing facility, called the Kent County Bioenergy Facility, is expected to be fully operational by early 2027.

Under the plan presented Thursday, the county would pay about $80 million of the $380 price tag, with Anaergia and federal and state grants covering the remainder. The county would seek to bond the $80 million.

The Kent County Bioenergy Facility would be run by Anaergia and handle 400,000 tons of garbage a year, as well as 30,000 tons of recyclables, to produce renewable natural gas, fertilizer and recyclable commodities.

The county currently diverts about 26% of garbage from being landfilled either through recycling or incinerating it, Kent DPW officials said. The Bioenergy Facility would increase that to about 65%.

Related: 75 percent of Kent County trash could be recycled, study finds

The diversion number could go even higher if the county is successful in attracting other tenants to the surrounding sustainable business park that would either divert and process waste as well or turn processed waste and recyclables into new products.

Tim Mroz, senior vice president of community development at The Right Place, said eight businesses from around the country, and two from outside the country, have already expressed interest in being a part of the sustainable business park.

Dorr Township Supervisor Jeff Miling told the county’s Board of Public Works on Thursday he was at first skeptical of the plan but has come to believe it’s a great idea.

Dorr Township is where the South Kent Landfill is currently located, and it’s the location eyed for the proposed Bioenergy Facility and surrounding sustainable business park.

It would also be the site of a new landfill, if Kent DPW’s plan isn’t approved. The South Kent Landfill – the county’s last remaining landfill – is expected to reach capacity in 2029.

Related: Kent County breaks ground on what could be its last landfill

“Maybe this facility could be a poster child for Michigan and all around us that we’re more conscious of what we’re doing with our resources,” Miling said. “I’ve been up on top of that hill (at the South Kent Landfill) a bunch of times and I couldn’t believe how much metal, plastics and that that they’re running over and pounding into the ground.

“It’s just a tremendous amount of resources buried.”

But the plan comes with a cost that will likely be passed on to trash customers across the county.

For about 42% of the county’s population, the cost for waste haulers to drop off their trash at county facilities will nearly double.

For the remaining, roughly 58% of the county’s population that resides in the six cities of Grand Rapids, Wyoming, East Grand Rapids, Kentwood, Grandville and Walker, the cost of dropping off trash could increase by about 17% to 27%.

Customers in those cities are already paying higher drop-off fees because their waste – through an agreement ending in 2025 – is required to go to the county’s Waste-to-Energy trash incinerator. Currently, haulers picking up trash outside of the six cities can drop-off garbage at the South Kent Landfill, which has lower dumping fees.

“As we talk about the economics ... we have to keep in mind: who is bearing the ultimate cost on this? And that’s the consumer,” said Jack Brown, a manager at Republic Services. “We’re talking about burdening our communities with a sizable increase.”

But even though the proposed percentage increases are sizable, they’re only a portion of customers’ trash bills. Baas said the average household would see a roughly $2 to $4 increase, depending on where they live, under the proposed rates.

“We believe building another landfill is more detrimental to residents and businesses,” Baas said. “The Kent County Bioenergy Facility represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity for our region and state to drastically increase our recycling, reduce our dependence on landfills and create jobs.”

When asked if it would raise trash bills for residents, Grand Rapids Public Services Managing Director James Hurt said the proposed increased rates associated with the project will “impact” trash, recycling and yard waste collections services.

He said the city will continue to monitor the proposed benefits and cost increases.

The new rates, which would go into effect in 2026, would be equal across the board for all county residents -- unlike the current system where garbage generated in the six cities is required to go to the higher-fee Waste-to-Energy facility. The rates are called “tipping fees,” which is the price per ton of municipal trash or recyclables off-loaded at county facilities.

The new plan would require all garbage generated in the county to be sent to the Bioenergy Facility, Waste-to-Energy Facility or North Kent Transfer Station at a flat rate somewhere between $87 to $94 per ton. That number could still change.

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