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LOCAL GOVERNMENT CASE STUDY: |
MACON COUNTY -
PALLET RECYCLING |
Macon County began offering pallet recycling services to the public in 1998, making program improvements three years later. Rather than using collection containers, the county designates a specific area for pallets with simple signage at two locations: the county’s municipal solid waste landfill, and its construction and demolition landfill. To provide an incentive for recycling, the tip fee for separated pallets is $20 per ton, less than half the regular tip fee for mixed waste, $48 per ton.
Macon County uses a contract grinder, Desoto Trail Construction, to grind the pallets and other yard waste on site. The resulting mulch product is made available to the public free of charge and is used as alternative daily cover on the county’s landfills. In addition, the county is currently negotiating with a local company to accept the product as boiler fuel. While this new arrangement is not expected to generate revenue, the local company will likely pay freight to ship the material from the county.
A front loader and labor from other landfill operations are used to minimally manage the pallet and mulch piles. As these were capital expenses necessary for the operation of other landfill services, overall cost to implement and manage the program are minimal. Signs designating the pallet recycling area cost about $30 each. Grinding services were negotiated at a competitive rate. Before the current negotiated rate with Desoto, Macon was paying about $18 per ton for the onsite grinding service.
Of the total 2,700 tons of brush and pallets recycled each year, Macon County estimates that approximately 75 percent, or 2,025 tons, are pallets.
March 2006
For a PDF of this case study, click here.
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