Fact Sheets

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FUN FACTS ABOUT YOUR WASTE IN CACHE COUNTY:

Logan Landfill

  • The Logan Landfill opened in 1960.
  • At first it accepted trash only from Logan, but since 1974 it serves all of Cache County, including all the cities.
  • The landfill occupies 85-acres of total landfill capacity on the north side of 200 North, about 1400 South in Logan.  This does not include GreenWASTE land or the Household Hazardous Waste facility.
  • In 2008, residents of Cache County received 78,590 tons of trash. That is 258 tons of trash each working day. Since the recycle program was launched, trash has decreased. In 2006, the landfill received 89,485 tons! Compared to 2007, the total trash coming in was 82,879 tons.
  • The landfill is scheduled to close by 2022.
  • The operators of the landfill do not allow things that are hazardous in the landfill. There is a household hazardous waste drop-off center for hazardous waste (like poisons, pesticides, some cleaners, oil, antifreeze, CFLs, and paint) and electronics (like TVs and computers). These are recycled or incinerated.  Some of the Hazardous Waste gets a second chance through our REuse program. Cache County residents can come in and take these chemicals for free after signing a liability waiver.
  • Recycling and composting saves space in the landfill so that it will last longer, and it makes better use of these things. People can drop off recycling (like newspaper, cardboard, plastic, metal cans, and other metal) and green waste (like clippings, leaves, and branches) at the landfill free of charge. The green waste is chipped and made into useful material that people can take home and put in their yards and gardens. Recycling makes new and often different products from those separated in the bins.
  • The landfill charges for trash that will be buried in the landfill. It costs $29.00 per ton. This pays for many of the costs to make the landfill available and to run it, including the people and machinery that compact and bury the waste, testing air and water to make certain pollutants aren’t escaping, and planning and engineering how the waste will go into the land. It also pays for closing the landfill by putting dirt and plants over the top and taking care of it and testing it after it is closed to new trash.
  • The Logan Landfill has a mall. At this special kind of mall, useful things that are no longer wanted by someone are sold to people that need them for a small cost. This is reuse. The mall sells sports equipment, gardening tools, furniture, and construction materials, as well as other useful things.

 

Logan Construction and Demolition Debris Landfill

  • Adjacent to the Logan Landfill is a 10-acre special landfill for disposing of waste from building sites, like bricks, wood, concrete, and wallboard.
  • The Logan Construction and Demolition Debris Landfill opened in the year 2000. Before that time, construction and demolition debris went into the Logan Landfill.
  • Many of the dirt roads that run throughout the landfill have been made by the reuse of materials that came from buildings, such as old concrete.
  • In 2006, 25,464 tons were buried and disposed in the Logan Construction and Demolition Debris Landfill. That is 22% of all the waste landfilled at both landfills. 
  • Trucks can collect green waste from homes in the cities of Logan, Smithfield, Hyde Park, North Logan, River Heights, Providence, Millville, Nibley, Hyrum and Wellsville.
  • Dropping grass, leaves, clean hay & straw, branches, shrubs and other garden waste at the landfill is free.
  • Approximately 8,835 tons of green waste were collected in 2007. This is approximately 7.4% of the waste stream.
  • Each year the City collects holiday trees and takes them to the green waste facility.
  • The green waste facility processes the materials coming in. Grinders make the pieces smaller. Operators place compost in windrows, monitor temperature and moisture, and turn the material until it is ready to be used in yards and gardens.
  • Woodchips and compost in gardens and yards hold moisture and reduce the amount of water needed for plants, and make pulling weeds easier.

 

Recycling

  • Trucks come by every house in the County every other week to collect recyclables in blue containers, making it simple and easy.
  • All the following items are accepted in the blue recycling can:
    • Newspaper
    • Mixed paper
    • Phonebooks, magazines, & catalogues
    • Cardboard & paperboard (like cereal boxes)
    • Aluminum cans
    • Tin/steel cans
    • Plastic containers (recycling logos #1-#7)
    • Cell phones and inkjet cartridges (place in zip-lock bags)
  • Glass isn’t collected in the blue bins because it breaks and pieces get into the paper and cardboard, but glass recycling is beneficial. Drop off glass for recycling at the Logan Landfill, USU, or Wal-Mart.
  • In 2007, 7,548 tons of material were recycled through the curbside collection program, businesses, and drop-off centers.
  • All the recyclables are taken to Mountain Fiber in Hyrum for sorting. There, Mountain Fiber makes the newspaper and paper into cellulose insulation for homes. They bale and ship the other materials out for re-manufacturing. 
  • Recycling is beneficial because:
    • It saves cutting down trees or mining new ore;
    • Making new products from recycled material generally uses less energy than making them from new materials;
    • By using less energy, recycling creates lower carbon emissions;
    • Recycling uses less water than making things from new material;
    • Recycling creates jobs;
    • Recycling saves space in the landfill.

 

Wastewater Treatment

  • Logan, North Logan, Smithfield, Hyde Park, River Heights, Providence, Nibley, and Utah State University all use the City of Logan Wastewater Treatment Plant. It is located west of Logan.
  • 18 million gallons of raw wastewater enter the plant every day. The US Environmental Protection Agency estimates that daily, each person in the US makes 120 gallons of wastewater daily.
  • From entry to discharge at the end of treatment takes three months.
  • As the wastewater enters the plant, mechanical devices screen out and remove large debris, items like rags or toys.
  • There are seven ponds on 460 acres. Water flows sequentially through: two have treatment aerators, and there are five settling ponds. They are some of the largest lagoons in the US.
  • The ponds, called lagoons, hold one billion gallons of water.
  • In the summer, up to one million gallons evaporate every day.
  • All the treatment is natural. After treatment in the lagoons, the water is chlorinated to kill bacteria, and then dechlorinated with sulfur dioxide and tested before being released to the treatment wetlands.
  • Every day, 13-15 million gallons leave the lagoons and enter the wetlands.
  • For the next three months, the wetlands continue natural filtration, take out algae, and drop phosphorous levels.
  • Before releasing water from the wetlands, operators test the water for chemicals and chemical properties, and release it to a canal that takes the water to Cutler Reservoir and farmers use it for non-food crops like grass, hay, and pasture.

 

Treatment Wetlands

  • Treatment wetlands are manmade wetlands created for the beneficial way wetlands clean and purify water.
  • Logan has some of the largest treatment wetlands in North America.
  • There are 240 acres of wetlands at the wastewater treatment plan for cleaning and “polishing,” the final steps in the wastewater treatment process.
  • The Audubon Society jointly operates the wastewater treatment wetlands. Among the many birds found are rare gulls, flamingos, and snow geese. Mammals include deer, raccoons, and skunks. Plants include cattails and large and soft-stemmed bulrush.
  • The landfill has treatment wetlands for water that has come in contact with waste. After passing through a series of ponds, the water is tested before being released.