photo by: Mike Yoder

The Hamm Waste Services landfill north of Lawrence is pictured in this file photo from 2007.

As the city and county develop new solid waste plans and landfill demand grows in the Kansas City region, the Douglas County Food Policy Council is urging them to prioritize organic waste diversion to improve soil health.

Douglas and Jefferson counties have prepared a joint, regional Solid Waste Management Plan – which guides the management of solid waste generated within the two-county region as population trends, service expectations, and market conditions continue to evolve. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment requires the plan to be updated every five years.

The two counties rely on the same primary disposal site, the Republic/Hamm Landfill in Jefferson County. According to the report, the demand to utilize the large available capacity at Republic/Hamm is anticipated to increase over the next several years – especially since many Kansas City area landfills are expected to close ahead of it.

Those earlier landfill closures may impact whether or not the landfill – which is permitted to close in 2103 – will fill up sooner than scheduled.

The Food Policy Council wants local leaders to look beyond traditional waste streams and consider the role of organic waste in building a more sustainable food system. It could also reduce the amount of waste being dumped into the landfill.

The report said in 2024, Douglas County generated approximately 112,200 tons of material for disposal or diversion. Of that total, 21,800 tons – or 19.4% – was organic waste, specifically yard waste or brush. Recent data from the City of Lawrence’s Solid Waste Master Planning waste assessment also shows that nearly 40% of the material being thrown away is organic.

However, organic waste doesn’t just boil down to yard trimmings or wood. It also includes food waste and paper waste. If it’s buried in landfills without oxygen, it creates methane gas, but recycling it through composting creates rich soil.

“(N)o public infrastructure exists in our community for the recycling of organic waste produced by home kitchens, restaurants, institutional cafeterias, or any food production facilities,” according to a July 28 letter from the Douglas County Food Policy Council.

Therefore, the Food Policy Council said if organic waste isn’t recognized as a critical part of both the city and county’s waste and food systems, it’s a missed opportunity to advance several goals in the Douglas County Food System Plan and Adapt Douglas County – Climate Action and Adaptation Plan.

The plan has not been approved by the Douglas County Commission yet. A vote on the plan will follow a public hearing scheduled for Sept. 9.

Asks from the Food Policy Council

The Food Policy Council is asking both the city and county to consider the following recommendations:

• To utilize organic waste to amplify soil health because recycling food and yard waste via composting can promote soil health and return nutrients to agricultural lands.

• To explore the potential cost-savings of organic waste diversion. Composting organic waste can reduce both waste collection and disposal costs and ultimately bolster the soil’s resiliency to climate.

• To prioritize community education opportunities so residents are aware of the benefits of healthy soils, composting, and waste diversion.

“We recommend that the City and County support local composting programs and/or facilities to take advantage of these diverse benefits,” the letter said. ” … With a robust program, we can recycle organic nutrients to improve soil health, reallocate spending from rising landfill fees and contamination penalties to municipally controlled local composting, and insulate our community from global and geopolitical shocks associated with both waste management and nutrients.”

“All these allow us to use waste resources to grow healthy, local food,” the letter added.

Douglas and Jefferson counties

In addition to the landfill, the region is also served by the Republic/Hamm Material Recovery Facility, which processes recyclable materials collected throughout the planning region. There is also composting infrastructure including the City of Lawrence Compost Facility and the City of Perry Brush and Compost Site, as well as a number of sites to process yard waste and brush collected from residents and municipal operations.

Douglas County residents generally have broader access to diversion services than residents in Jefferson County, according to the plan. Approximately 85% of Douglas County residents have access to curbside recycling and yard waste collection through municipal service systems. In Jefferson County, curbside recycling access is significantly more limited.

Douglas County currently operates three recycling drop-off locations in unincorporated areas of the county. These locations provide recycling access for residents who may not have curbside recycling services available. With those locations, the county spends approximately $78,000 annually on hauling, processing, maintenance, and administrative costs associated with the recycling drop-off program.

Even though the program’s heavily utilized, the county has been experiencing ongoing operational challenges including overflowing containers, contamination, illegal dumping, and litter.

“Participation data is not currently tracked, limiting the county’s ability to evaluate usage patterns, user origin, and overall program effectiveness,” the report said. “There are opportunities for operational and financial improvements including updating the hauling agreement, improved site management practices, and enhanced coordination with host site partners.”

Both counties provide year-round household hazardous waste collection through dedicated facilities. The Lawrence/Douglas HHW Facility serves Douglas County through a partnership between Douglas County and the City of Lawrence, while Jefferson County operates its own facility. In fiscal year 2024, the Lawrence/Douglas facility collected more than 178,000 pounds of material, compared with approximately 24,400 pounds at the Jefferson County facility.

Landfill capacity

Douglas and Jefferson County are served by Republic/Hamm Landfill, and it has significant capacity based on current acceptance rates, the report said. However, a regional evaluation study conducted in 2023 examined seven active landfills serving Kansas City.

The study concluded that the region has anywhere from 19 to 37 complete years of landfill capacity remaining.

As landfills reach capacity and close over time, the region will become more reliant on Kansas landfills, particularly Republic/Hamm Landfill, which currently has the most capacity available. Republic/Hamm Landfill’s permitted capacity is projected at nearly 83 years, with a closure year of approximately 2103.

However, the two nearest state landfills, Johnson County and Rolling Meadows, are both projected to reach capacity much sooner – 2043 and 2064, respectively. The closure of other regional landfills could increase the demand on Republic/Hamm, potentially accelerating its fill rate and making it a more central facility for the region.

“(Owner Waste Management) has publicly stated that it is evaluating multiple options for a future landfill to serve the region as the Johnson County Landfill closure approaches but has not provided any specific information on the location or timeline,” the report said.

The report says Douglas and Jefferson counties could rely on the Republic/Hamm Landfill for anywhere from 20 to 80 more years of landfill capacity, based on the findings from the study.

Key plan recommendations

The report outlined multiple recommendations with a timeline spanning over the next 10 years to implement them. Some of the recommendations include:

• “Support cities in updating building codes related to enclosures to include space for trash and diversion activities.”

• “Further evaluate the effectiveness of Douglas County recycling drop-off sites by evaluating program participation, material tonnages, and service location options.”

• “Explore interlocal agreements for unincorporated residents to utilize municipal yard waste drop-off programs.”

• “Monitor opportunities to support the expansion of food waste drop-off services and collaborate with potential partners on siting, operations, contracts, grant applications, or other planning components as they arise.”

• “Develop an education and outreach plan to promote awareness and participation in available residential curbside, commercial, and drop-off disposal and diversion options. Collaborate with respective cities to promote uniform messaging and expand messaging reach through cross promotion.”