By Ana E. Wood

Budgets continue to shrink as demand for government services is on the upswing. Historically, employee development programs are first on the chopping block since they are easiest to identify. How can entities afford to invest in innovation and training, essential activities to the long-term sustainability of enterprises? The answer might surprise you. Often we read about the untapped benefits of public and private partnerships; however, partnerships whose objectives are to enhance knowledge and share resources are not limited to private entities. A town-and-gown partnership (i.e., partnering with a university or a college) might yield greater benefits than its private counterpart. The reason behind such a return is rooted in the value gained when academia is paired with real-world challenges where the impetus is to solve a problem or discover new approaches. Because of this, the results are more likely to be useful and adopted. Even when the result is not deployable, it is not a wasted effort since it might serve as a trampoline for new ideas. Town-and-gown partnerships typically are developed to address the specific needs of an institution. Universities have the ability to perform testing for almost every research idea being considered in-house; therefore the appealing factor is to offer the university an opportunity to conduct meaningful, applied research. Researchers often have promising ideas, but they frequently lack the field facilities to explore them. A landfill owner might have equally innovative ideas, but his primary focus must be on operating the facility. A partnership of both parties can prove a win-win proposition. Projects can serve specific needs of a facility or a community and at the same time elevate the practices throughout the industry.

Three years ago, the Polk County, FL, Solid Waste Division staff initiated a town-and-gown relationship with the University of Florida (UF). From the very beginning, our goal has been to serve as an incubator for new ideas, designs, and practices and to deploy the outcomes to better serve our residents and protect the environment. This cross-pollination of ideas has given birth to extraordinary results. Projects are underway on such topics as bioreactor landfill operation; utilizing older, unlined landfill cells as areas of new-liner expansion; and simulated landfills for assessing waste co-disposal on leachate quality. Although the relationship is structured to achieve specific targets, it also is relaxed and flexible to stimulate creativity.

The desire to operate existing and future landfill units at the site as bioreactors stemmed from the county’s goal to manage waste in as environmentally safe and sustainable, yet economically feasible, a manner as possible. Landfill staff and UF researchers worked together to develop the plan for bioreactor construction and operation using the most recent science on the subject and factoring specific conditions of the site. Graduate students not only had the opportunity to transfer concepts from the classroom to the real world, but they also gained experience as practical as how to weld high-density polyethylene pipe. More than 3 mi. of horizontal trenches have been installed in the operating landfill to date, providing abundant capacity for future leachate recirculation. Installation of these trenches continues as more waste is deposited. The final design will allow for automated, controlled operation and data collection and will provide information necessary for the design of future cells at the site.

If determined feasible, constructing a lined Subtitle D landfill on top of older, existing unlined cells would allow Polk County to utilize discarded airspace available above several old landfill cells (closed in the late 1970s). A rough estimate of the waste disposal capacity that could be gained is 17 million yd.³ Researchers and consultants are working with the county to meet several technical and environmental challenges associated with such a project. The results of a detailed regime of waste sampling and analysis, geotechnical testing, and prediction of future cell performance will be the subject of a graduate student’s thesis.

Another concern we have faced, as have many in our position, is the impact of the disposal of certain waste materials on our leachate quality. One example often cited these days is e-waste (e.g., discarded computers and televisions). We hear that these devices are hazardous wastes, yet others say metals leaching from these items are bound up in the landfill and never present a problem. When the researchers approached us and expressed an interest in exploring this question, we were only too happy to help. The researchers will be installing simulated landfill columns in our landfill cell, using the existing garbage to insulate the experimental landfills. Some landfill columns (each containing 20 ft. of waste) will contain discarded electronics, others will not. Graduate students also will be studying the impact of other waste materials so we can make decisions about future waste acceptance. The landfill staff gains a better understanding of what impacts the leachate quality, the students have a full-scale laboratory to test their ideas, and the waste profession as a whole gets answers to often-asked questions.

Today my staff, regardless of rank, has worked closely with graduate students and the principal professor overseeing the research. This has given them the opportunity to exchange ideas and think on a higher level when tackling daily operational and engineering challenges. Meetings are very fluid and dynamic. Ideas flow like rapids, and at times some members find themselves submerged. At the end, everybody meets in less turbulent waters to select the best research project and course of action. The cost associated with town-and-gown partnerships varies, depending on the scope of services and projects. The discipline to follow a process has been invaluable to my staff. These skills have transcended to all areas of operations. The ability to mobilize an untapped reservoir of talent is an added advantage of town-and-gown relationships. Such benefits can facilitate the expansion of knowledge at any organization while making research serve the institution’s needs. People with the right knowledge and attitude are the backbone of any organization regardless of how technologically advanced its practices are. People must perform, monitor, or steer any process. By creating a town-and-gown partnership, Polk County government has reached higher levels of performance through people whose knowledge and appreciation of scientific approaches have expanded and who are doing more with less. The benefits have allowed me to manage the day-to-day operations while shaping the future, thus outweighing the burden of placing additional responsibilities to an already overextended staff.

Ana E. Wood is solid waste director for Polk County, FL, and a member of MSW Management’s Editorial Advisory Board.

MSW - March/April 2004