PROCTER AND GAMBLE/DOUGHERTY COUNTY LANDFILL PARTNERSHIP TO REDUCE WASTE

SUMMARY

Procter & Gamble (P&G) and the Dougherty County Solid Waste Department worked together to identify and implement alternative management options for two of P&G's most significant waste streams.

BACKGROUND

In 1990, P&G sent over 13,000 tons of fines/ash and significant quantities of wood waste from broken pallets to the Dougherty County Landfill. The large amounts of fines/ash sent to the landfill began to cause P&G concerns about disposal cost, and the county concerns about the impact of the high volumes of material on the long-term life of the landfill.

The company approached the Dougherty County Solid Waste Department about working together to find alternative management options. The options identified include mixing the fines/ash with clay for use as landfill cover, and shredding the wood waste for use as a boiler fuel at P&G's facility.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The ability to create a "win-win" situation for P&G and the Dougherty County Solid Waste Department was essential to the success of this solid waste reduction project. In addition, there were a number of environmental questions which had to be addressed before a long term commitment could be made to use of the fines/ash as a landfill cover amendment. These included determining:

• whether a mixture of amendment and topsoil would support a grass cover and prevent erosion;
• whether the cellulose fines would pose a concern in decomposition, or leaching of toxic organic compounds;
• whether the amendment would leach alkaline or saline water to nearby surface and groundwater;
• whether the amendment would leach toxic, heavy metals from the ash; and
• whether the proposed application rate, in terms of tons of amendment per acre of landfill cover, could be accommodated by the landfill acreage.

Analytical tests were performed by three scientists, one each from Duke University, The University of Georgia, and Dames and Moore of Atlanta on the proposed amendment to determine pH, electrical conductivity, germination and growth rates, and leachability. Results showed none of the above issues posed a problem for the Dougherty County Landfill. As a result, the Department of Natural Resources' Environmental Protection Division issued a permit for the use of fines/ash as a landfill cover.

Wood waste from broken pallets also amounted to a significant portion of P&G's solid waste stream. The P&G plant boiler burns 50 percent wood chips and 50 percent peanut hulls. P&G and the Dougherty County Solid Waste Department agreed that Procter and Gamble would purchase a truck for $84,284 and provide $50,000 per year for labor costs. In exchange, the County agreed to haul pallets to the landfill for shredding and return the shredded wood to the company for use as boiler fuel.

RESULTS

Forty tons per day of fines/ash are mixed with clay at a 1:1 ratio and applied as landfill cover. The cost of landfill cover amendment has been reduced by 50 percent, a savings of $200,000 per year. In addition, P&G's cost of disposal for fines/ash has been eliminated for a cost savings of $286,000 per year. The diversion of the wood waste and alternative use of the fines/ash saves the equivalent of six days of landfill space per year, reducing disposal requirements in the County by two percent.