Bavarian Waste, the only landfill that services Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties, has requested an increase of its capacity by about 37.7 million tons.
The request was made to the Northern Kentucky Solid Waste Management Area, the organization responsible for overseeing solid waste in the three counties. As a result, residents can now leave written and spoken feedback to inform the decision on whether or not to approve the expansion.
“We have roughly 11 million tons of space left, but just kind of projecting, going forward, with everything being built around here, we just felt like it was time that we should ask for that additional space,” said Nick Brueggemann, landfill manager with Bavarian.
The Northern Kentucky Solid Waste Management releases solid waste management plans for its oversight area every five years; the current plan (which you can read here) spans from the beginning of 2023 to the end of 2027.
The organization’s board is comprised of the judges/executive of Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties, along with a commissioner from each county. The plan includes not only trash collection plans but also plans related to recycling, litter control and areas where things can be improved.
Although the Solid Waste Management Area oversees waste collection, it’s left to counties and cities to carry out their collection operations and negotiate contracts with private haulers.
Bavarian sent a letter to Boone County Public Works in January of last year asking them to begin the process of requesting an expansion. Brueggemann told LINK nky that additional construction or land acquisition would not be necessary if the expansion is approved; they’re capable of handling the additional tonnage in their current landfill.
Breuggemann told LINK nky that they handle, on average, about 2,000 tons of solid waste a day from most of the region’s major haulers.
The expansion request has to go through a round of public comments before the Solid Waste Management Area makes a decision. If the area approves the expansion, another request is sent to the Kentucky Division of Waste Management for final approval.
“Northern Kentucky Solid Waste Management Area made a request to the state Division of Waste Management to begin the process for public hearing and public comment, which is kind of where we are right now,” said Boone County Engineer Robert Franxman said. “Once we kind of conclude with that public hearing and public comment stage, the Northern Kentucky Solid Waste Management Area governing body will kind of consider that public comment along with some other information that we’ll pursue internally, and if we agree that there is a need for increase of the approved capacity within the landfill or approved capacity within the Northern Kentucky Solid Waste Management Area plan, then we will make that actual request to increase the capacity that’s approved in the plan.”
If approved, the expansion must then go through a bidding process to determine where the new capacity will be. So, even though Bavarian made the request officially, there’s no guarantee the new capacity will be located in their landfill. Given that they’re the only landfill in the region, however, it makes sense the capacity would end up there.
The current solid waste management plan calls for a capacity of 11.1 million tons of disposal space, 9.25 tons of which is already filled up, according to Boone County. Statewide, Kentucky received about 6.94 million tons of trash in fiscal year 2023, which ended June 30, 2023, per the Kentucky Division of Solid Waste.
The most recent report from the EPA calculated the average municipal trash generated by an individual American to be about 4.9 pounds per day.
Residents from all three counties can provide public comment on the proposal by writing a letter to the Boone County Engineer and mailing it to Boone County Engineer, PO Box 900, Burlington, KY 41005. They can also send an email to countyengineer@boonecountyky.org. All emails and letters must be received by Friday, Jan. 31 in order to be considered.
Additionally, there will be a public forum where people can speak on the proposed expansion on Monday, Feb. 3, at 5:30 p.m. in the first-floor courtroom of the Boone County Administration Building in Burlington.
Both Franxman and Boone County Communications Senior Manager Elaine Zeinner encouraged residents to leave feedback and take the opportunity to educate themselves about waste management in the region.
“It’s just a good opportunity [for residents] to learn about something that’s happening in your community that they might not realize,” Zeinner said. “The county government tries to help oversee and manage and provide resources for residents. And with the public comment, I think it’s just an opportunity for residents to share their input and feedback.”
Learn more at Boone County’s news page.
Kenton Hornbeck contributed reporting to this article.