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Council authorizes capital lease to buy landfill shredder; staff projects multi-year savings
Summary
The committee approved a five-year capital lease to acquire a landfill shredder from Ecoverse for $641,450, which staff said would sharply reduce processing costs and pay for itself in roughly four years.
The Committee of the Whole authorized staff to secure a five-year capital lease to purchase a DoppleStat landfill shredder from Ecoverse for $641,450 via a Sourcewell contract.
Miss Lipsh introduced Brent Olmstead, landfill supervisor, and described the current practice of contracting out shredding of woody debris and similar materials. Olmstead and staff said the city currently pays about $39.25 per ton to process those materials through a contractor and that operating its own shredder is expected to reduce processing costs to about $3.29 per ton.
"Currently, the city, contracts out all of our shredding of our woody debris that comes to the landfill, and with the addition of this equipment, we could also shred many other materials," Miss Lipsh said. The request asked the committee to authorize purchase via a five-year capital lease so that the city would own the equipment at lease end.
Council discussion included expected payback and downstream benefits. Staff said the city spends about $150,000 per year on processing those materials and estimated a payback period of roughly four years. Staff also cited a study figure for the cost to bury a mattress at $45.51 and noted shredded mattresses and other shredded materials save landfill airspace.
Councilmember Osovski moved approval; Weigel seconded. The committee held a voice vote and the motion carried unanimously.
Why it matters: the shredder is expected to reduce per-ton processing costs considerably, recover capital through reduced contractor fees in several years, and reduce landfill airspace consumption by shredding bulky items such as mattresses and pallets.
