California Landfills

Looking at California on a map of landfills, it looks absolutely covered in landfills, this is especially true in the Los Angeles area. Knowing the average American produces 4.4 pounds of daily trash it’s astonishing to think there are only about 2,000 active landfills in the entire country.

There are 77 Landfills in California, serving a population of neatly 40 million people in an area of over 155,000 square miles. There is one landfill per 506,270 people, and one Landfill per 2,022 square miles. The state of California is ranked 44th in landfills per capita, and 28th in landfills per square mile.

The California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) has initiated reforms and intends to continue the effort to make environmental permitting more efficient, less costly, and to ensure that those seeking permits receive timely responses from the boards and departments of the CalEPA. In 2017, California landfilled or exported for landfill 37.8 million tons. To calculate California’s recycling rate we add an additional 6.6 million tons of “disposal-related” materials, for a total of 44.4 million tons disposed.

County-owned facilities include the Eastern Regional Materials Recovery Facility in the Tahoe area, transfer stations in Meadow Vista and Foresthill, and four closed landfills. The landfill division also provides administrative support and management to the Western Placer Waste Management Authority which owns and operates the Western Regional Sanitary. The Lancaster Landfill & Recycling Center is located in the Los Angeles County unincorporated area of Antelope Valley, California, and currently encompasses 276 acres of land and 209 acres permitted for waste disposal. Waste Management’s Lancaster Landfill & Recycling Center employs the latest advances in landfill technology.

At present, California has three commercial landfills that accept hazardous waste. One is located in Kettleman City, one is in Buttonwillow, and the third is in Imperial County near Westmorland. California’s hazardous waste landfill requirements include the federal rules and more stringent state requirements in connection with hazardous materials. Phase II consists of an assessment of the effectiveness of current regulatory requirements in controlling environmental impact over time. The study is the most comprehensive inventory ever undertaken of California landfills. GeoSyntec Consultants, Inc. of Oakland, California, conducted the two-phase study, which began June 2000 and ended June.

There is the Prima Deshecha Landfill Commercial and Public Disposal at San Juan Capistrano, CA use for public disposal for Orange County residents and businesses only. The County of Orange operates one of the nation’s premier solid waste disposal systems, providing this essential public service to residents and businesses in 34 cities and unincorporated in Irvine, CA. Modesto dumpster rental Services can be used to gather large quantities of junk and garbage and bring it to the landfill in bulk, which is the most efficient way to do it.

The landfill operator may choose not to accept waste even if permitted in Waste Discharge Requirements. Also note that the Solid Waste Facility Permit issued by the local enforcement agency and the Integrated Waste Management Board may not allow discharge of certain wastes types. Water is a precious resource in California, and maintaining its purity is fundamental.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) regulations target emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills. The regulation was a discrete early action greenhouse gas emission reduction measure, as described in the California Global Warming Solutions Act (“AB 32”). Landfill methane control measure goes as follows: The California Air Resources Board (CARB) approved a landfill regulation which became effective in 2010 that reduces emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas, from municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills.

LMOP tracks key data for landfill gas (LFG) energy projects and municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills in the United States. The LMOP Landfill and Landfill Gas Energy Database (LMOP Database) contains information about projects in various stages such as planning, under-construction, operational and shutdown, and is also a data repository for more than 2,600 MSW landfills.