Winnebago County solid-waste official outlines limits and options for composting, bulk-waste pickup

Kelly Reyer, director of Winnebago County Solid Waste, told the Oshkosh Sustainability Board on June 2 that the county’s solid-waste operation is an enterprise fund that pays for services with tipping fees rather than tax-levy dollars and lacks staff, space and equipment to run a county-scale composting program.

Reyer said the county accepts residential yard waste, bulky trash, appliances, e‑waste and other items at its transfer station and that household hazardous waste events run May through October with no cost for households but require appointments. “A lot of people don’t realize that Winnebago County, our department, our solid waste department is not on the tax levy. We are the only department that is not on the tax levy, so we don't directly get taxpayer dollars to fund our programs,” Reyer said.

The county sends mixed recycling to the Tri‑County Recycling material‑recovery facility in Appleton; Reyer said Winnebago, Outagamie and Brown counties coordinate…