King County reviews long-term disposal options and pilots a five-day hauling schedule; officials say EIS and city briefings are next

King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks (DNRP) staff on Feb. 12 briefed the Regional Policy Committee on two related solid-waste matters: long-term disposal options the county is evaluating as Cedar Hills landfill nears capacity, and a newly launched pilot to change hauling and tipping schedules to improve efficiency.

John Taylor, director of the Department of Natural Resources and Parks, told the committee Cedar Hills is projected to reach capacity around 2040 and that the county must plan now for the “next disposal solution.” Pat McLaughlin, director of the Solid Waste Division, summarized five disposal approaches the county has evaluated and said two options—waste export by rail and mass-burn incineration with export of residual ash—are the most practical at scale for King County.

McLaughlin presented high-level findings comparing the two approaches. He said the capital cost for a mass-burn facility is likely over $1 billion and that the county’s life-cycle analysis showed higher estimated greenhouse-gas and cancer-risk impacts associated…