Sedona Recycles News Archive

Local landfills contain a fortune in raw materials

Steve Ayers, Verde Independent

June 19,2009

It has been suggested that, in time, as the planet's resources dry up and the cost of extracting them rises, we will begin mining our landfills.

It is not as far fetched as it sounds.

Jill McCutcheon, executive director for Sedona Recycles, believes it is a certainty. And she has the numbers to prove it.

Samples taken from landfills across the country, by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, show there are literally millions of tons of recyclable materials lying close to the surface waiting to be tapped.

But for McCutcheon, such statements fall on deaf ears. She has come up with an idea that may get people to think before they throw away their "valuables."

"EPA's estimates are, in my opinion, low ball, but they are a base to work from. They also express it in tons of material, which most people may think of, but dismiss it. We believe if it was quantified in dollars, more people might reconsider their habits."

To illustrate the problem, Sedona Recycles recently decided to estimate, based on the EPA formula, what was thrown into landfills in Yavapai County in 2007 and 2008.

The totals amount to a small fortune.

For instance, in 2007, residents of the county threw out almost $10 million in aluminum, $7.5 million in cardboard and paper and an additional $7.5 million in plastic. There was also an estimated $860,000 in steel and another $87,000 in glass.

Last year saw little difference, with $8.6 million in aluminum, $9.2 million in cardboard and paper, $8 million in plastic, $1.2 million in steel and $82,000 in glass.

"The fact remains, almost 90 percent of what goes into landfills is recyclable," says Sedona Recycles board member Jim Bishop. "The question we should be asking ourselves is, why bury it.

"Why go to the expense in the future of mining it when we can preserve natural resources and recycle it now. It makes perfectly good sense. Maybe too much sense."