Laramie’s program aimed at waste disposal and collecting biodegradable waste for compost is costing the city money.
Though Laramie’s compost program continues to be a success, the cost of operation has nearly doubled what was expected earlier this year.
“It was never intended to be a permanent solution,” Laramie City Manager Janine Jordan said. “It was always intended to be a temporary measure to get people to understand the value of green waste.”
When the program was implemented in 2010, Jordan said the city estimated it would operate at a loss for the first two years but eventually earn about $28,000 a year while costing about $48,000.
Jordan said the program ended up costing the city about about $81,000 in 2016.
“Some of the costs are stemming from abuse of the sites,” Jordan said. “But some are real legitimate costs because we’re gathering twice as much as we were three years ago.”
The program places green waste collection bins around the city between April and November.
However, Jordan said the abuse stems from people illegally dumping green waste at the landfills, which requires labor and man-power from the city to clean up.
Jordan said while part of the increase in cost stems from illegal dumping, it can also be attributed to a steady increase in waste collected each year from the program’s adoption.
“Certainly some portion of the cost is stemming from the abuse at the neighborhood sites,” Jordan said. “But some of it is just a legitimate increase because we are gathering twice as much material now as we were three years ago.”
Like the cost, the total waste collected this year has doubled.
“In 2013, we collected about 3,100 tons of waste, and this year it was a little over 6,000 tons,” Jordan said.
City Councilor Dave Paulekas said he would like to see the issue with illegal green waste disposal addressed before the green waste bins are placed around town later this month.
“It has expanded to the point where it is not a weekly convenience for your grass clippings, but becoming a mini landfill,” Paulekas said. “Right now, we have no control of what’s going on.”
He also said he would like the city to put up signs by the bins stating the city will only accept leaves and grass clippings while illegal dumping could be punishable by a fine.
However, Laramie Public Works Solid Waste Manager Brooks Webb said there is no realistic way to enforce those fines
“We can put that on the sign and tell them not to do it,” Webb said. “I just don’t know it will make a difference.”
