Sanitation director briefs council on landfill life, tarp cover test, compost plan and fleet changes

Joe Hopper, speaking for the Conway sanitation department, told the city council the department runs six divisions with about 97 employees and highlighted ongoing community outreach such as facility tours, school events and public demonstrations.

Hopper said the citys current landfill life estimate is about 45.5 years based on the most recent engineering work and that an updated engineering report would be released this month. He described the citys adoption of a weighted tarp alternate daily cover system, saying the tarp "conserve[s] airspace, reduce[s] the soil needs and operating cost" and that it is currently in a testing phase of roughly six months.

"Everything that's put in those carts is not recyclable," Hopper said while outlining curbside recycling limits and explaining that roughly 20% of collected material is residual and not marketable. He urged residents not to bag recyclables and described common nonaccepted items (coated cartons, certain coated plastics and some types of packaging) that can cause loads to be rejected.

On long-term liability, Hopper said state rules require a 30-year post-closure care period for closed landfills and that Conway has a dedicated post-closure cash fund to cover monitoring and maintenance costs. Finance staff later noted that the sanitation post-closure cash account held about $7,400,000 on the February balance sheet.

Hopper also reviewed capital and operational needs: recent cell/zone work completed in 2021, 2022 and 2025 cost about $1.75 million, below earlier expectations; the city will seek a replacement scale system later this year; and the council was asked to approve purchase of an articulating dump truck and several refuse trucks, partly to exit reliance on off-site CNG fueling. Hopper said the city will maintain contingencies during the transition so collection services are uninterrupted.

Hopper described a proposed compost facility to process yard waste and organics, noting the city already grinds incoming yard material and that diverting even a portion of the organics stream (he estimated organics comprise a large share of the waste stream) could extend landfill life and generate a modest revenue stream if compost is sold to residents. He outlined infrastructure needs for such a facility, including concrete pads and leachate collection.

Council members and attendees asked a range of operational questions about bulky-item pickup scheduling, styrofoam recycling options, hazardous household drop-off procedures and the physical size of the tarp used as alternate cover; Hopper answered each point and invited council and residents to schedule facility tours to see operations firsthand.

The council thanked Hopper for the briefing and moved into regular agenda business.