Portage County approves MOU to use latex paint as alternative daily cover

Portage County’s Solid Waste group approved a memorandum of understanding with Marathon County Solid Waste to collect latex paint for use as an alternative daily cover at the county landfill.

The MOU will have Marathon County supply collection containers and pick up the paint at no charge to Portage County. Under the arrangement, collected latex paint will be mixed with bentonite clay to form a thin slurry that can be sprayed onto the landfill working surface as an alternative to traditional daily cover materials.

Site coordinator Amanda said the process “they'll mix it with bentonite clay, and then, they make a slurry out of it and they spray it onto the landfill working surface.” She said the approach “actually saved us labor and and space because we don't have to take the time to dry it out.”

Amanda told the board that state statute requires a daily cover on the landfill and that certain alternatives are permitted; she described the paint-based slurry as taking “very, very little space” compared with aggregate or other covers. The agreement places handling and pick-up responsibility with Marathon County; Portage County staff must transfer collected paint into the supplied containers for pickup.

Board members voted in favor of the MOU. No fee to Portage County was reported at the meeting and staff said the program should reduce labor associated with drying paint before disposal.

The board approved the MOU by voice vote. No separate motion amendment was recorded during the discussion.