Thomas B. Hadden III

By Thomas B. Hadden III

It seems in every industry leaders are looking for methods to continue programs and services without increasing costs to the customers. Anyone in the solid waste industry knows how difficult this can be, especially if your region is operating a publicly owned landfill. Everyone wants disposal and waste diversion programs to be offered free of charge or next to nothing. The question then becomes: How do we sustain an integrated solid waste management system without continually raising prices in a changing economy?

The answer to that questions is simple: innovative thinking.

Metro Waste Authority (MWA) is the governing body for the solid waste management system in central Iowa. Governed by an elected official from each of its 17 member communities, MWA is responsible for managing all of the solid waste in and around the state’s capitol city, Des Moines. The landfill takes approximately 1,500 tpd of garbage. The revenue at the landfill must provide the money needed to operate the facility, as well as funding for the various waste reduction programs and services managed by MWA.

In the mid-’90s, MWA had really overextended its revenue sources. The agency was working in a deficit, and quick action needed to be taken in order to survive. There are the obvious remedies: layoffs, reduced programming, increased fees, and so on. To MWA’s credit, however, little of this had to be done. Let me take you on the journey this organization experienced in an effort to become a sustainable environmental partner for member communities.

Know Your Core Business

For MWA, knowing its core business meant better understanding its customers. It also meant tracking business more accurately. We developed the organization’s first business plan in 1997. We met with each member community’s leadership and explained our role in helping to manage solid waste within their communities. We proactively marketed special wastestreams in our service area and made sure the material was coming to our facility.

We took the time to get "our house" in order. By this, I mean we worked with landfill neighbors to reduce litter in their neighborhoods. We went beyond environmental requirements and did additional testing on groundwater and surface water both upstream and downstream from our facility. As a public landfill operation, we knew the foundation of sustainability was in the relationships we had with our members, our customers, and our neighbors.

Dare to Be Innovative

MWA spent more than $250,000 per year trucking leachate to nearby wastewater treatment plants. In 2000, it opened a Constructed Wetlands Treatment Facility. This facility is the first of its kind in the Midwest and promises to save the agency millions of dollars in the future, simply by utilizing various species of plants in a series of lined wetland cells. These cells will continue to treat leachate for years after the landfill closes and revenue stops coming through the gate.

Evaluating the landfill rates was another innovative approach to doing business. To secure our revenue and allow for more accurate budget forecasts, MWA entered into contractual agreements with all of its major customers. The contracts allowed these customers to receive a $5/ton rebate as long as all waste collected in MWA’s service area came to the Metro Park East Landfill. The result? We recaptured lost revenue and have been able to budget more accurately since the contracts began in 1998.

Additionally, MWA looked for ways to selectively internalize costs when it made sense. For example, small construction projects, all mechanical work, and much of our environmental monitoring are done by staff rather than outside consultants.

Look Strategically for Partners

MWA learned in the mid-’90s that it couldn’t be everything to everyone. Finding a partner to help with issues has been the secret to continued success within our member communities. Below is a list of the partnerships MWA has fostered in the last five years.

Keep Iowa Beautiful. This statewide affiliate is housed in MWA’s office, and we work very closely with this organization to develop local affiliates throughout the state. Together the two organizations have developed three key messages that can be applied across the board: promoting litter-free events throughout Iowa, waste reduction and recycling education, and the importance of local beautification projects.

Urban Environmental Partnership. This alliance is between MWA and similar organizations focused on water quality. Together we have developed 14 classroom curricula to educate K—8 grade levels about water quality and the role each of us plays in maintaining a healthy water supply.

Regionalization of Services. MWA opened its Regional Collection Center for Household Hazardous Waste in 1994. In the beginning, this facility was solely funded through the gate fees at the landfill. Through the years, MWA has sought solutions to reduce the amount of subsidy without having to charge a fee at the facility. MWA has expanded this service from its one county service area to more than 20 counties within central Iowa, representing more than 25% of the state’s population. These expansion "partners" pay a per-capita fee to use the service, which helps offset operational costs once covered only by MWA.

Think Neighborly

Not only did MWA focus more on litter control around its various facilities, it also looked for ways to partner with schools and communities to provide environmental education.

A great example of this kind of neighborly thinking is MWA’s agreement with the school districts around its landfill. Each year, MWA provides the two districts $0.10/ton to put toward environmental/science education. It also gives $0.05/ton to the fire department to assist with its funding.

In addition, MWA has partnered with school districts throughout the service area to take care of a potentially harmful problem found in schools throughout the nation: harmful chemicals in school science labs. MWA’s "Rehab the Lab" program is offering cost-effective solutions for schools to properly manage these types of chemicals.

Flexible Thinking

In an ever-changing world, especially now, any business must have the ability to look at its core business and develop a plan for staying strong–through good and bad economic times. Solid waste management requires flexible thinking to implement environmentally sound operational practices as well as sustainable waste reduction and environmental services. Sustainability is not a project that has an ending, it is a continuous way of doing business.

Thomas B. Hadden III is executive director of Metro Waste Authority in Des Moines, IA, and a member of MSW Management’s Editorial Advisory Board.