Solid Waste District No. 1 proposes countywide expansion, cites recycling and tire-recycling opportunities

Sweetwater County Solid Waste Disposal District No. 1 managers presented a district-expansion proposal Oct. 21, 2025, asking the county and stakeholders to consider extending the district’s boundaries westward to include Green River, Jamestown and other tax districts.

General Manager Dan Cheddarbuck said the district currently serves multiple tax districts in the central county and supports the Ray Lavetto Recycling Center, school programs, fundraising partnerships and several industry customers. Cheddarbuck said the district already handles “hard to manage” industry wastes (poles, contaminated soil, electronics) and has partnerships for tire recycling and other specialty streams.

Cheddarbuck and Vice Chair Devin Brubaker (also president of the Ray Lavetto Recycling Center) described several anticipated advantages of expansion: fewer landfill sites and therefore fewer potential contaminant-release locations; increased revenue that could accelerate infrastructure investments such as a materials-recovery facility (MRF), a used-item warehouse, a shredder to increase compaction and cell life, broader household hazardous-waste collection and a second scale to reduce summer gate bottlenecks. Brubaker said Rock Springs’ recycling operation processes roughly 2,000,000 pounds per year by hand and that migration to a single-stream facility could significantly increase diversion countywide and reduce hauling costs currently paid by Green River.

Cheddarbuck provided numbers from the district’s analysis: current annual operating cost (excluding capital) about $2,814,450; a projected funding increase of about 42% if the proposed areas are added; current district mill levy 2.91; an example resident impact on a typical Sweetwater County assessed home value (average assessed value cited in staff materials) would be about $6.96 per month if Green River and others were added under the current mill rate. He said current outside-the-district fees for Green River residents include a $65-per-ton municipal solid-waste tipping fee and separate charges for tires ($120/ton) and mattresses ($35 each), and that residents in some areas currently have no household hazardous-waste outlet.

Cheddarbuck said expansion could also position the landfill to become a regional tire repository and noted a scheduled early-November meeting with Tire Reclaim and Wyoming DEQ to explore that possibility. He described investments in technology already in place at the county landfill — GPS tracking of operations, drone flyovers, leachate management and plans for a master plan that could extend landfill life from current estimates of about 20 years toward 30 years under improved practices.

Commissioners asked several practical questions: whether the expansion would be imposed by resolution or put to voters, how the expansion would affect current Green River resident trash bills and how mines and industrial customers would be impacted. Cheddarbuck said district counsel advised that, under state law, the county board can pass a resolution to expand district boundaries, but commissioners and several members of the board commented that additions of taxed territory without voter approval could be controversial and that public engagement or a petition process would likely be needed. Commissioners asked staff to gather more detailed financial comparisons for Green River residents and industry and pursue more stakeholder conversations before any formal action. Cheddarbuck said he will follow up and provide requested details.