The "tipper" dumps a load of trash -- up to 20 tons in one load -- at the landfill. Image courtesy SWACO.

On October 30, Metro School students visited the Franklin County Sanitary Landfill, operated by the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio (SWACO). The landfill is located southwest of Columbus, in Jackson Township. The landfill is a Municipal Solid Waste Landfill (MSW) and accepts most household wastes.

SWACO landfill diagram, courtesy SWACO. Click for high-resolution, printable version in PDF format.

At the landfill, Metro School students received a presentation by Kristi Michels, SWACO’s Environmental Education Manager, on the operations there – it is considerably more complex (see diagram above) than most folks realize. Then, the students toured the active site aboard the school buses. Like the incoming truck, the school bus was weighed (one bus, with students, weighed in at 26,250 pounds, or 13.13 tons).  They saw individual semi-trailers, each capable of carrying up to 20 tons of waste, “tipped” at the site. The small- and large waste trucks combined bring about 3,500 tons of waste to the site each day. Once trash is compressed within the cell, it’s gradually sloped to a total height of 180 feet – SWACO’s sanitary landfill is one of the highest points in Franklin County – the landfill receives approximately, 900,000 tons of trash annually.

SWACO users specially-fitted vehicles called "compactors" to spread and compress trash evenly within the cell. Image courtesy SWACO.

An aerial view of the Franklin County Sanitary Landfill, as seen in Google Earth. Click here for the link in Google Earth. Requires Google Earth -- get it here free.

The Franklin County Sanitary Landfill is available for tours by school groups and other interested organizations.