Linn County Solid Waste Agency warns Marion landfill nears long-term limits; tipping fees to rise July 1

Joe Heine, director of the Linn County Solid Waste Agency, told the Marion City Council on Feb. 18 that the agency will raise several fees beginning July 1, 2025 and that the county’s primary landfill will reach capacity well before the settlement expiration date in 2044 unless waste streams change.

The increases include a $2 rise in the general landfill tipping fee to $50 per ton, a special-waste rate of $70 per ton, bulky-waste charges rising to $80 per ton, and a $15-per-ton jump for commercial recycling processing to $115 per ton—an increase Heine tied to Republic Services’ processing contract and weak markets for recyclables.

The fee changes are intended to reflect processing costs and to discourage contamination in curbside recycling, Heine said: “There's just so not much of a market for recyclables, for paper, plastic, things like that… contamination is being another major issue that we've seen.” He noted Marion’s recent roll-out of new carts and local education efforts are expected to reduce contamination.

Why it matters: the presentation laid out operational and capacity planning for Marion-area customers and described programs the agency uses to divert material from landfill, including mattress recycling, textiles and books collection, and free compost for county residents. Heine said those diversion efforts and cooperative programs with partners such as Willis Dady and Saint Vincent de Paul both remove difficult items from the waste stream and create local jobs.

Landfill capacity and transition planning Heine reviewed Site 2 (the landfill and recycling location north of Marion) and said design work for the final permitted phase (called Phase 5b) will begin in the fall, with construction currently estimated for 2027. He warned that agency projections now show the site reaching capacity before the settlement date of June 30, 2044—likely in the 2037–2038 range depending on incoming tonnage—and that the agency plans to operate as a transfer station after closure if necessary.

“Once we get full at this location… the garbage will still come there and it'll just get shipped out to a location that has space,” Heine said, describing options including other Iowa landfills or privately operated facilities in Illinois.

Recycling markets and contamination Council members asked how much material processed at Republic Services is actually recycled. Heine said market conditions are “market driven” and that most paper, aluminum and PET (nos. 1 and 2) plastics currently find buyers, while plastics numbered 3–7 generally do not. He said Republic is expanding polymer plants in Indianapolis that could change regional markets but that current economics push some recyclable material back into landfill.

Diversion programs and user fees Heine described several diversion programs Marion residents already use: free drop-off composting, a mattress recycling program subsidized by the agency (residents pay $10; agency covers another $10 of a $20 processing cost), fee structures for appliances and tires, and free battery collection to reduce lithium-battery fires. He also summarized year-to-year tonnage brought from Marion and noted an uptick in 2024 related to impacted soil (348 tons) from a large project.

Next steps and outreach Heine encouraged continued coordination with Marion public services staff on closures and other operational notices and offered to provide deeper briefings for neighborhood groups or civic organizations.

Ending The report was received without a formal action at the work session; councilmembers posed follow-up questions about market shifts for recyclables and timeline planning for post-closure operations.