Boise’s trash collector wants to open its own landfill. Here’s how that could affect you

In the Boise area, the old adage “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” is playing out in real time.

For many Boise-area residents, trash disposal just happens in the background. They pay city trash collection fees, put their trash in a bin outside their home, and expect it to be picked up at regular intervals.

But for the Ada County landfill, where that trash goes next has financial implications — and of late, has come into question.

Republic Services, a company that contracts with Boise and other cities throughout the Treasure Valley to pick up trash and recycling, has entered into a purchase agreement for a former landfill in Elmore County. If the purchase of the site, located near Mountain Home, goes through, Ada County officials said it could reduce the amount of waste that makes its way to the Ada County landfill.

The county-run landfill doesn’t use any tax dollars to cover its operations or maintenance. It derives its revenue from trash dropoffs, including from Republic Services. For the numbers to pencil out, the landfill relies on a certain level of “flow” of residents’ waste, though it’s largely up to cities — not the county — to determine how trash is picked up and where it’s sent.

If its landfill revenue falls, the county may have to compensate. That might include higher fees — or a tax levy.

“If the county were to see a significant reduction in incoming waste, that would be an impact to our operations from a revenue perspective, and so we would have to make adjustments,” Herb Cantu, the landfill director, told the Idaho Statesman by phone. “That could be a mechanism to adjust the fees appropriately. It could be a levy. We don’t know — we wouldn’t really know until the situation presented itself.”

Ada officials doubt company can handle liability, environmental risk

At a December meeting with state legislators, Ada County commissioners said the plan for the new landfill was among their top concerns. Some legislators at the meeting questioned whether the county was trying to prevent competition from a private entity, but Cantu said it’s not just about the money.

Landfills must be monitored for decades — even after they close and stop generating revenue — because they continue to emit gas and could contaminate groundwater.

“It’s not a traditional business model, because when you start a business, you know it’s going to last as long as you deem it appropriate,” Cantu said. “With a landfill, at some point your business hits an end of life, but you’re still responsible for all the costs, the environmental costs, to maintain the site.”

“When you look at it holistically, a landfill is a business, but it’s much more than just that,” he added. “It’s actually a liability you have to maintain forever.”

For that reason, landfills are often run by government entities “who are going to stick around for the long haul,” he said. He expressed concern that a private entity might be shielded from the full costs of any damage or disaster that may arise, or that it may rely on insurance carriers that are already heavily taxed by natural disasters.

“When you have a new player, like a private entity, what protections are going to be had?” he asked.

Melissa Quillard, a spokesperson for Republic Services, pushed back on those concerns, telling the Statesman by email that the company has a “long history” of responsibly managing both active and closed landfills. The company operates 208 open landfills and manages 126 closed landfills around the country, she said.

“These modern landfills are protective of both the environment and the communities they serve with best-in-class environmental safety features,” Quillard said.

If the company’s purchase of the landfill, located at at 16415 NW Waste Site Drive, goes through and Republic secures a permit from Elmore County, it would be one of few privately owned landfills in the state. But that’s not a problem, Michelle Langdon, the president of the Idaho Solid Waste Association, told the Statesman in an emailed statement.

“Similar to other utilities and services, landfills are often publicly owned facilities,” she wrote. “This is in part due to the large up-front investment required. However, private companies own and operate efficient and environmentally sound facilities across the nation.”

Langdon did echo one of Cantu’s concerns: that the county landfill’s revenue might diminish even as Ada County is left holding the bag on the costs of managing the site.

“Careful consideration should be given to the substantial public investment in existing waste management infrastructure,” she said. Supporters of the new project should ensure that “the proposed development avoids creating stranded public assets, does not disrupt the financial or operational stability of public services, and ultimately does not negatively impact citizens or the services they rely on.”

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