People who wonder what happens after that big truck dumps the garbage into itself and drives down the street will be happy to learn some good things happen after that.
The Dry Creek landfill outside of White City is a regional location for garbage ranging from Roseburg to Yreka and the coast to Grants Pass. It is deposited into the site and covered with a heavy duty plastic that makes it look like a giant circus tent. There the garbage sits and ferments into methane gas. The gas is siphoned off and put through a process that turns the methane into electricity. The electricity is then sold to the power company and is enough to power 3000 homes.
Rogue Recycling and Disposal does not stop there. We are all encouraged to recycle products such as glass and plastic in the red topped containers and to use the green lidded cans for yard clippings and tree limbs. These products go through a whole different process.
Big composting stacks of the yard waste simmer away just like our own compost piles in the back yard. The big difference is these giant compost stacks are carefully monitored. According to Allen Smith, Composting Supervisor for Rogue Recycling and Disposal, “Careful monitoring of temperature and moisture levels are needed to insure PFRP (Process to further reduce pathogens”). That is vitally important to the organic gardens and farms that are able to purchase the resulting product from the Rogue Transfer Center at 8001Table Rock Road in White City.
It is important to keep the right products in the right cans because it cuts down on the time and labor spent insuring that the process will work correctly. It is also important to keep the land fill from growing too rapidly. The less glass and plastic and yard waste that does into the landfill leaves more room for the real garbage and each in their own way contribute to generating usable products in a cost effective manner. We all benefit from keeping costs down whether it is our personal electric bill or the cost of purchasing more things to recycle!
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