Managing mountains of trash

Strict regulations in place at landfill north of Lawrence

Hamm Waste Services oversees the 360-acre landfill that serves 13 counties in northeast Kansas, including Lawrence, Leavenworth and Manhattan. The landfill, in Jefferson County about 10 miles north of Lawrence, will likely be in operation for at least another 90 years, said Charlie Sedlock, division manager, shown above at the site.

Charlie Sedlock has seen sunflowers grow on a pile of trash.

That’s the way it is at landfills these days because of strict waste management regulations of the last 25 years, he said.

Once a solid-waste landfill cell is filled, it can be compacted. A layer of top soil can then one day sprout grass and plants, resembling a prairie.

“It isn’t just old Buddy out there on a bulldozer pushing things along,” Sedlock said of today’s landfill business.

He’s the division manager for Hamm Waste Services, the company that manages most waste from Jefferson and Douglas counties and rural areas in much of northeast Kansas.

Hamm Companies opened the landfill in 1981 in Jefferson County about 10 miles north of Lawrence.

A trash trailer empties its load as other machinery works to cover trash with dirt.

It doubles as a rock quarry, and after certain sections of the more than 360 acres of land in the quarry are excavated down to a natural clay-like layer of shale, that section can be used as a solid waste depository.

But the landfill must adhere to strict regulations in almost every phase as several layers must be put down under the solid waste, including a plastic geomembrane liner.

Garbage is then deposited in a designated cell of land. Bulldozers drive over the solid waste to spread it evenly. Eventually the waste deposits are stacked in the cell to about 200 feet high.

When it reaches that height, the section of the landfill is closed with a layer of soil and mulch over it. Grass and plants, including sunflowers, can grow on top of it.

“When it’s all said and done, the facility will kind of be almost a natural area in the way it looks,” Sedlock said.

Sedlock estimated Hamm takes in 1,200 tons of garbage per day.

About 10 percent of the landfill is complete and ready for waste deposit, and only about 5 percent is closed with the grass topping, he said.

It is estimated that it will take about 90 years for the landfill to become completely closed, but with possible technological advancements and recycling, that life span could increase, Sedlock said.

Then, the company would make a decision how to use the land. Others around the country have built golf courses, recreational areas, wildlife areas or even used wells to take advantage of the methane gas that is pumped out of the solid waste.

“It’s an environmental business. We operate what we feel is a very safe disposable option,” Sedlock said.