• Transport of waste to the landfill is regulated, and penalty fees will be assessed for un-contained waste during transport.truck image by David G from Fotolia.com
  
  Garfield County, Colorado, has an extremely organized landfill for resident and non-resident use; however, fees are charged for disposal of waste. Most common household waste items can be disposed, even animals can be disposed in the landfill. Some items are prohibited from disposal, but certain disposal dates and locations are allocated for household hazardous waste and electronic equipment disposal.
  
  

Landfill Disposal

• Vehicles entering the landfill must abide by weigh-in, weigh-out procedures. The upper portion of the landfill is designated for recyclables, with further segregation for appliances, wire, metal, BBQ grills, bicycles, cable, heavy metal, tires and wood. It is the responsibility of the customer to sort their own loads. If landfill personnel sort loads, a minimum charge of $50 per load is assessed, not to exceed $400.
  
  

Non-allowable Items

• There are 21 items that are not allowed to be disposed into the landfill. The list includes non-household hazardous waste, paint, used or waste motor oil, computer equipment, restaurant grease, asbestos and aerosol-containing appliances or cans. However, there are specially designated disposal times for household hazardous waste, two times per year, generally in the spring and fall; and electronic waste, the second Thursday of each month at the Road and Bridge Cattle Creek Facility.
  
  

Fees

• Generally, county residents will pay $5 per 140 pounds of waste, whereas non-residents will pay $10 per 140 pounds of waste. Some waste material is charged on a per item basis, and then pre-determined weights are subtracted from the overall load weight. For example, disposal of tires is $2.50 per tire, and each pre-estimated tire weight is then subtracted from the load. Appliances cost $10 per disposal; small animals cost $5 per disposal; large animals cost $10 per disposal and mattresses cost $5 per disposal.
  
  

Monitoring

• According to Walsh Environmental, the landfill design and construction included groundwater and methane monitoring wells at and around the landfill. Walsh is responsible for conducting water quality tests, reporting results and producing special waste disposal requests. Colorado identifies special waste as waste that requires special handling or disposal procedures; for example, infectious waste would require a special waste disposal request.
  
  There is no information on the amount of methane generated at the landfill, so it cannot be determined if the landfill would be a good candidate for a waste-to-energy project where methane is converted into usable natural gas for consumer use.