Talking trash: How much life's left in the landfill?

First in a two-part series

In 2007, each Utahn produced roughly 1,800 pounds of garbage. And we're on track to do the same this year.

That's 1,800 pounds. And 52 times a year, the garbage can is conveniently emptied and the garbage is whisked away before many of us even wake up.

Those 2.4 million tons of waste only account for what went out to the curb each week. Another 2.1 million tons came from construction and demolition operations and from industrial sources.

All of that waste has to go somewhere.

And for centuries, the answer hasn't been very high-tech: We bury it.

Every day, around the state, garbage comes into the 39 landfills that accept municipal waste. Massive machines with spiked wheels spend all day driving back and forth over the putrid mess. At day's end, the garbage — mattresses, clothing, food, paper and thousands of diapers — are covered with 6 inches of dirt.

At the end of a landfill's life, what's left is a mound of seemingly virgin ground, sometimes about 120 feet high, specked with grasses and native vegetation. In most cases, that ground isn't good for much.

The Deseret News Community Issues Team wanted to know how long Utah can stay on this path. Only limited space exists along the Wasatch Front to site new landfills, so our team of nine reporters conducted a survey of major landfills along the Wasatch Front and Back to find out what landfill managers are doing to extend the life of their landfills, thus saving taxpayers the expense of buying land to develop new landfills.

But we also want you to know how garbage gets from your curb and back into the earth and what goes on in between.

Today and tomorrow, we're bringing you those stories. It's our way of talking trash.

Waste space

Landfilling — it's so simple. You dig a pit, throw the garbage in it, cover it and forget it. At least, that's how things used to be done. The Utah Division of Solid and Hazardous Waste has records of 376 closed landfills around the state. That means 376 locations that at one time were community dumping grounds.

Currently, 100 landfills are in operation, and three permit applications are pending with the state.

Siting a landfill is an expensive proposition at best and a possible public relations nightmare because no one wants to take everyone's trash.