Northumberland recycles. COBOURG US -- Elena Hogan / Northumberland News NORTHUMBERLAND -- The Brighton landfill is one of two actively used by the seven municipalities in Northumberland County for waste disposal.
In operation since 1975, it is used for residential, industrial, commercial and institutional waste. Until 1991 when Northumberland County assumed responsibility for waste management, the Brighton landfill was operated by the town of Brighton and townships of Brighton and Murray.
It is certified and approved by the Ministry of Environment to accept any domestic (Northumberland County only) solid (non-liquid) non-hazardous (fairly benign) waste.
"Typically we get regular household garbage, as well as commercial, construction and demolition, and industrial material brought in," said Adam McCue, Northumberland County waste manager. "We get a little bit of everything and the kitchen sink here."
The Brighton site is 22.79 hectares in size with 13.4 hectares approved for landfill use. Right now, based on the current volumes coming in on a yearly basis and projections going forward, Mr. McCue said the County anticipates the site will be at capacity by around 2016.
"We're in the process of an environmental assessment to expand the landfill extending its life by another seven years," said Mr. McCue. "We will dig up the old portion of the landfill that is unlined and put the waste into lined sections of the landfill already built. Through this we'll extend the landfill's capacity to 2023."
Waste coming into the Brighton site between 1975 and 2007 is currently held in the old sections of the landfill, explained Mr. McCue, which are considered unlined or natural attenuation portions. The lined sections of the landfill house all County waste from 2007 on and have an intricate lining and leachate collection system in them.
Leachate is water that has come in contact with waste and can potentially seep down into groundwater and contaminate it, if not managed correctly. Mr. McCue said the lining is made up of a number of layers working together to prevent the seepage of leachate. Instead it is collected and sent to a waste water treatment plant.
"Through tipping fees at the Brighton and Seymour landfills and the Bewdley transfer station, we get about $2 million in revenue which is used to off-set operational costs of the landfills in Northumberland County," said Mr. McCue.
Curbside haulers come in weekly and dispose of the County's garbage, explained Mr. McCue. Individual residents also bring small loads to the site. A transfer station and drop-off location is set up for residents with bins for residential garbage, scrap metal, leaf and yard waste, tires, and Freon-containing appliances.
Currently, Northumberland County diverts 40 per cent of its waste through various programs which include the curbside blue box program, the household hazardous waste program, the electronic waste program, leaf and yard waste program, and the diversion of scrap metal, tires and Freon-containing appliances.
"Through industry funded stewardship programs like Ontario Tires Stewardship (tires) and Stewardship Ontario (hazardous waste), we get money back for collecting and diverting certain materials," said Mr. McCue. "The stewardship collects money from producers of those products and distributes the funds to everyone involved in collecting the waste from that product.
"Tires are recycled into rubber crumb for construction use such as playgrounds," he continued. "Also, if there's enough tread on them and it's still a worthwhile tire, they may send it down to Central America or other countries that don't require as much tread to drive."
Mr. McCue noted there was still a fair amount of waste coming into the landfill that could be diverted, the largest portion being food waste.
"The next easiest thing to divert from waste right now is the organics, the compostable fraction," he said. "We do sell backyard composters and some people use them but a process where you pick up the organic waste on a weekly or bi-weekly basis is the optimum way and best practice at getting that diverted."
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