Entry for 2005 Innovations in American Government Awards Program

Project Name:		Garbage Goes Green

History of the Project:    In 1987 the County closed their landfill and began hauling their refuge to a regional landfill located 90 miles to the southeast.  The County was the first County in Wyoming to begin using trash transfer methods and received significant criticism from other counties around the State about its use.  Over the last 17 years, however, we have discovered the use of a trash transfer station can lend itself tremendously to effective recycling.  The County began a recycling program in the mid 1980's.  This program has grown to the point where we now capture and recycle approximately 20% of the municipal waste.  The most recent and innovative of our recycling efforts involves our wood waste program.

Website:   No website for this project.

Summary of the innovation:  The County has turned the liability of wood wastes into recyclable products and a revenue source.  What was once a $20,000 per year liability is now a $100,000 per year revenue source.

Program Description:   Teton County is a rural county located in the northwestern corner of Wyoming.  The County contains one incorporated town, Jackson, and several areas of concentrated development.  The County, as a whole, contains an estimated population of 18,500 people.  In the summer and winter, however, the community is host to large numbers of tourists who expand the number of people to over 50,000 on any given day (peak season.)  Teton County is located in an area of great scenic and natural beauty.  The proximity of Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, as well as the Bridger-Teton National Forest, make these resources not only of local importance but of national and international importance as well.  The last two decades have seen a significant increase in visitation to the Valley, as well as an increase in full-time residents.  As this growth has increased, pressures on the community infrastructure have increased as well.

Beginning in the summer of 2000, Teton County elected to find an alternate source for disposing of wood waste  received at its Transfer Facility.  The wood material had previously been shredded and hauled to the regional landfill to be used as landfill cover.  This method of wood waste disposal carried with it a deficit of $20,000 per year.  After months of searching, the County located a home for its wood chips.  New Park Environmental is a well known firm that specializes in cleanup of oil well drilling debris.  Many of the well sites in western Wyoming are located in environmentally sensitive areas.  Some are located adjacent to live streams and Class I waters, with many located  in critical winter range for wildlife. The wood chips are used to ‘mop up’ drilling mud and sludge at oil well sites.   Next, the saturated wood chips are transported to New Park’s industrial park, located near Boulder, Wyoming, where they begin the process of composting.  Additional wood chips are added to create the right blend for proper composting.  After a period of weeks and close monitoring, watering and turning regiment, an environmentally safe compost material is produced.  The entire process from well site to compost meets Wyoming Department Of Environmental Quality standards.  The compost material is then used for landfill cover at the topsoil starved  Fremont County Wyoming landfill.  What was once a monetary liability to the County is now a beneficial and useful product.  

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is thrilled with the cleanup efforts around the oil wells.  Fremont County is pleased to receive additional landfill cover.  Oil producing companies are delighted to have the added insurance against oil field spills or other catastrophes.  Teton County is excited to have turned a taxpayer funded liability into revenue that can be used to fund projects that will benefit all within the County and surrounding area.  The County currently redirects $5 of every ton of wood chips and refuge back into the recycling program.  This generates approximately $165,000 of income for the recycling program.

Significant achievements of the program:   In conclusion, this Program takes a waste product and uses it to cleanup the environment.  The wood is a by product of the demolition of old homes and businesses in Teton County.  One has only to follow a load of wood chips from the initial shredding process to its final destination to verify the achievements.  What was once a pile of wood debris is turned into wood chips.  These chips are then used to clean the environment and, at the same time, provide funding for our recycling efforts.