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Cochise County solid waste update: recycling revenue, ADEQ fee changes and transfer‑station fixes
Summary
Public works staff reported recycling revenue helps offset tipping fees, described recent ADEQ fee adjustments, outlined repairs at the Douglas transfer station and proposed streamlining the free dump‑day voucher program to reduce county postage and fraud risk.
At the June 10 Cochise County Board of Supervisors work session in Bisbee, Mr. Fazio presented a solid waste update that highlighted recycling revenue, an ADEQ fee decision and operational changes to transfer stations.
Fazio said the department collected more metal for recycling, which helped offset operating expenses: “Our expenses per ton is $76. We're charging $64 a ton at the gate. So we offset that cost by hauling that metal up to Tucson,” he said, and added the planned high-side trailer is intended to speed that transport and increase throughput.
Fazio described recent action by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ). He said ADEQ “totally removed all the new fees” it had proposed but kept increases to existing fees tied to the consumer price index. He added that the county previously paid 25¢ a ton to landfill its own trash and that increased to 58¢ a ton under the adjusted fee schedule, and that the department will continue monitoring ADEQ for future changes.
On transfer-station operations, Fazio showed before-and-after photos of the Douglas station and said a contractor completed roughly $60,000 of repairs to doors and exterior reskinning; leadership changes at the site also coincided with improved cleanliness. He described recurring equipment failures that can create bottlenecks: “When that compactor fails, it does happen. It can be a blown hose. It can be some electrical failure ... it leaves about, you know, a 100 tons of trash on the floor,” he said, describing a recent one-day outage.
The department also proposed streamlining the county’s free dump‑day program. Fazio said the Rate Review Advisory Board (RAB) voted to approve a free dump day for the next year and that staff would like to change voucher distribution from a mailed‑card system to either an in‑station or online registration to cut postage costs and reduce returned/unredeemed vouchers. He presented historic voucher data showing about 42,900 mailed vouchers and roughly 11,000 redeemed, and said the county is exploring digital and station-based alternatives to reduce fraud and administrative work.
Staff asked supervisors to note these operational changes; the RAB already approved a free dump day for the coming year, and county staff will bring proposed voucher-process changes to administration for review before implementation.
