Collier County workshop weighs landfill expansion, reclamation and emerging technologies for long‑term waste disposal

County solid‑waste staff and consultants told commissioners at the March 4 workshop that Collier County must decide how to secure long‑term disposal capacity and outlined a menu of options that range from pursuing new technology pilots to reclaiming and expanding in‑county disposal sites.

Kerry Hudson, director of Solid and Hazardous Waste, and Daniel Deitch, a solid‑waste planning consultant with SCS Engineers, said the county’s current strategy — high recycling rates and integrated services — has bought time, but the county should set policy direction now to avoid a future disposal crisis.

“Long‑term disposal is an important matter and critically important to secure a best‑value approach before the county faces a crisis,” Deitch told commissioners. He presented three recommended policy actions: amend county ordinance 2005‑54 to create a single solid‑waste district; align the landfill operating agreement with the integrated solid‑waste management strategy (including performance standards such as in‑place waste compaction); and pursue preferred options to control long‑range disposal capacity.

Staff presented four categories of disposal options:

- Out‑of‑county disposal: staff said moving all waste out of county would require significant transfer infrastructure, create traffic impacts (roughly 50 tractor‑trailers per 1,000…