Centerville may offer curbside green-waste pickup

CENTERVILLE — City leaders want to know how many Centerville residents are interested in a curbside green-waste recycling program.

The city already offers curbside recycling for paper and plastic items, but green waste — grass clippings, branches and yard waste — are normally thrown in regular garbage cans.

That causes problems for the Wasatch Integrated Waste Management District, which runs the Layton landfill and a waste incinerator, known as the burn plant. Nearly all the garbage in Davis County passes through the district's operations each day.

The incinerator, which produces steam and electricity, doesn't run as efficiently when green waste, which tends to contain more water than garbage, passes into it, said Nathan Rich, the district's executive director and chief executive.

Rich said the district would rather collect the green waste separately and process it into compost, which happens at the Layton landfill. The compost is then sold to the public.

The district began a pilot green-waste program in Fruit Heights last year, but Centerville officials were interested in a program of their own.

The proposal for a green-waste program from ACE Disposal, which currently hauls waste away from Centerville, includes a $5.50 monthly fee for weekly pickup.

Of that fee, $3 would go to ACE, $2 would go to the waste district and 50 cents would go to Centerville for administrative costs.

ACE officials have said they need at least 20 percent of the city's homes, about 750, to participate to make the program feasible.

Information about the proposal is being sent to Centerville residents through the city newsletter, said Blaine Lutz, the city's finance director.

The public is invited to comment on the proposed green-waste recycling program during the City Council's March 16 meeting.

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