Grants Could Shrink Tacoma's Landfill Contributions

The April 19 City Manager’s report to City Council included a note about two grants the City has applied for two grants related to reducing Tacoma’s waste.

The first, a pair of grants, would provide funding for equipment to recycle asphalt pavement and asphalt shingles, both of which are generated in large quantities by City operations, including road repair. Recycling these materials would keep them out of the landfill, and keep the City from having to pay for their disposal, reducing that burden on the general fund over time. Two grants have been applied for under this category: one for $550,000, and one for $200,000, with respective City matches required of $137, 500 and $50,000.

The second would fund a feasibility study on the construction and operation of a compost/anaerobic digestion facility in Tacoma to deal with materials such as food waste, fats, oils, greases, and other “organic feedstocks” that have the potential to create methane and compost. Such a program would have the benefit of keeping these materials out of landfills. The process would produce methane that could be compressed and used as fuel within the City, and residue which, according to the report, could be composted into Tagro. No word yet on how the money end of such a process would work out, but the feasibility study should sort out some of that. The $100,000 grant applied for to fund that study requires a City match of $25,000.

In light of the fact that the Tacoma landfill is expected to be full as of this fall, and capped shortly thereafter, and Tacoma’s waste sent to Graham, it seems like a good idea to be looking for ways to reduce the amount of waste we have to pay them to take from us. All of these grants come with matching requirements for Tacoma, which might be hard to swallow initially, but perhaps the possibility of Tacoma becoming a little more self-sustaining and eco-friendly is worth it… What do you think?

For a brief look at how a few other cities around the world have reduced the amount of trash they send to the landfill, read this short article from Good Magazine. We particularly like the idea of a municipal shepherd.