Campbell County landfill to close Tuesday

Some regional leaders are anticipating a windfall of government savings, while others are breathing a sigh of relief about leaving the landfill
business.

On Tuesday, two local cities and three counties will begin using the Lynchburg landfill, which will be renamed the Concord Turnpike Regional Landfill.

The Region 2000 Services Authority will take over the landfill.

The localities will keep running the collection services and drop-off points they currently provide, meaning most people won’t have to change the way or the day they take out the trash.

Meanwhile, the reduction in overhead costs will result in a chunk of local government savings — in cash and in headaches.

Campbell County could save at least $700,000 per year in the long term, administrator David Laurrell said.

Bedford City Manager Charles Kolakowski said the city would save on transportation costs, since it has been transferring trash to Amelia, between Farmville and Richmond.

Lynchburg City Manager Kim Payne said the great deal for Lynchburg is not having to worry about building a new landfill when its current one is full.

The idea for a regional landfill came from the Region 2000 Local Government Council. About five years ago, that body suggested cutting overhead by combining
operations.

The cities of Lynchburg and Bedford and the counties of Campbell, Appomattox and Nelson have joined the program.

Amherst County was once on board, but county supervisors dropped out last year.

Clarke Gibson, solid waste director for the Region 2000 Services Authority, said most residents would not notice the difference.

The biggest change is the closure of the Campbell County landfill on Tuesday.

“We’ll be closing the Campbell County landfill for five or six years until the Lynchburg landfill fills up,” Gibson said. At that point, the region will begin using the Campbell facility.

County residents can still drop off household garbage, appliances, brush and tires at a “green box” convenience station at the landfill site. Businesses, however, must use the Lynchburg landfill.

Gibson said Lynchburg city and Campbell County residents will be able to make multiple trips to the regional landfill each month, bringing a total of 500 pounds.

Residents were formerly limited to one trip and 250 pounds, he said.

Residents in Appomattox and Nelson counties or Bedford city will keep using the collection services or convenience stations they currently use, or they can also dump trash at the landfill for a $35 per-ton tipping fee.

Gibson said the region’s two landfills will be full probably in 13 to 15 years.

The Services Authority hopes to increase that lifespan through a recycling program that would keep more things out of the landfill, he said.

“You look at the landfill, and there’s a lot of paper and plastic, things we might be able to recycle,” Gibson said.

But Gibson said the organization’s main priority is creating a plan for the future when both regional landfills are closed.

The authority could build a transfer station to take trash to a landfill outside the region. It could also build a landfill or a waste-to-energy plant, which would burn trash to generate electricity.

“The final solution may be a combination of all these things,” he said.