Watercolor rendition of Los Alamos County Eco Station. Image created by Eloïse Schappert
By ELOÏSE SCHAPPERT
Student Intern At Los Alamos County
Atop the old landfill site of Los Alamos County, is the Eco Station, a place where the towns refuse and recycling is still sent, but no longer to stay. The landfill had been operational since 1974 and closed in 2008, when the site reached capacity and the trash had to go elsewhere. In New Mexico’s smallest county there is not that much room, even if residents would agree to compromise some of their incredible landscapes by filling them with trash. But the waste does not simply stop accumulating.
The first stop on getting waste out of Los Alamos County is the Eco Station located on East Jemez Road: several trucks collect waste, from residential roll carts and commercial dumpsters, and bring it to the Eco Station. The trash is then sent out in the truckloads; to a landfill 90 miles away in Rio Rancho. Last year, 2022, over 784 trucks were sent out carrying 17,032.68 tons of trash costing $871,382.
But the Eco Station doesn’t just deal with trash. Los Alamos County residents are very good at recycling, and all recycling also goes through the Eco Station. In Los Alamos County, metal, paper and plastic are all recycled through the blue roll carts for residential use. Cardboard is brought to Bio Papel in Prewitt, New Mexico where it is recycled into paper, and the rest is taken to Barco in Albuquerque for appropriate sorting and marketing.
In 2022, approximately 156 trucks carrying 1634.48 tons of recycling were sent out costing $110,927. Items that cannot be recycled using the blue roll carts include aerosol cans, batteries, plastic bags, and even glass; they must be disposed of alternatively. Household hazardous waste—aerosol spray cans, automotive fluids, corrosives, cleaners, and light bulbs—is disposed of once monthly at the Eco Station. Car oil, antifreeze fluid, tires, batteries, large metal items, electronics, and lightbulbs, however, can be dropped off at the Eco Station any time during open hours. Pallet mulch and clean dirt are available for free drop off and pick up, but concrete and asphalt has a fee. GM Emulsions grinds up the concrete and asphalt and interested residents can contact them to get the materials.
Glass is also recycled in Los Alamos County, but it must be brought to designated locations throughout the town and cannot include mirrors, drinking glasses, lightbulbs, ceramics or window glass. The glass is then collected and taken to Glass 2 Glass in Colorado where it is recycled there to make new glassware.
The Eco Station does even more than just trash and recycling: it takes care of yard trimmings! Residents can place yard trimmings into a third brown roll cart, which is then collected and brought to the Eco Station where it is then ground to create mulch or compost. Compost is made with the addition of bio solids from Los Alamos County Wastewater Treatment Plant and manure from the stables. The mulch and compost created at the Eco Station is then offered to anyone who wants it.
The Eco Station also has a reuse center where items in good condition can be left and taken by other residents and is working on a second location in White Rock. The reuse centers do not take mattresses, household hazardous waste or clothing, but any items in complete and good condition are able to be donated and taken for free.
Also situated at the Eco Station is a field of solar panels and an elaborate system for capturing methane gas which is being produced by the decomposing of organic material from the old landfill. The solar panels provide electricity to customers of the Department of Public Utilities and the methane gas is constantly measured and burned off, so if you have ever seen a blue flame at night driving on East Jemez Road, you have seen the methane being burned off.
The Eco Station also offers residents bear resistant roll carts, to discourage animals from potentially harmful situations. Bears are often found rooting around residential garbage and once those bears become habituated to humans, they are more likely to pose safety threats to both human and bear life. Residents can request a bear resistant roll cart at no additional cost using the online roll cart request system at this link.
Los Alamos County cares about reducing waste sent to the landfill, and has put into place many effective reuse, recycling, and composting initiatives, but there is always room for improvement. The Rio Rancho landfill currently in use by Los Alamos County is running out of room and is estimated to close in 6 years, and soon another will have to be found, which will likely result in an increase in hauling and disposal costs for the County.
A zero-waste initiative is currently in place and looking to gain more traction. The principle of zero-waste is exactly what it sounds like: minimizing waste production. Buying less single-use items, and choosing instead to buy used goods, or simply reusing things for as long as possible—and investing in things that last longer—are all ways that you can reduce your production of waste. A big piece of the waste production is food waste: planning meals, donating excess food, and storing food properly are all ways to minimize food-based waste. If food does go bad, be sure to compost! The County is developing a municipal food composting program that will allow residents and businesses to compost food waste into high quality compost materials.
Reducing waste is the best way to minimize the impact on landfills and the environment as a whole, it also means that more money will be saved, and the County can look forward to a sustainable future, keeping those wonderful landscapes wonderful!
Los Alamos County Eco Station provides a variety of services, all in the effort to divert waste and minimize negative impacts on the environment. From trash to recycling to compost, residents can expect their waste to be handled and to be given the tools and resources to minimize the waste they produce. Taking advantage of the amenities provided by the Eco Station is easy, and beneficial to the environment!
Resources available for residents to use to learn more about solid waste management in Los Alamos County include the Environmental Services Division page on the County website here, which includes several tabs on the different programs run by the division and a wide variety of information on recycling, sustainability, and much more! On that website there is also access to the Recycle Coach app available for download which provides information on recycling tailored to Los Alamos County. You can also visit the Los Alamos County Environmental Services Facebook page for current updates and information here.
About Eloïse Schappert:
Eloïse Schappert is a Los Alamos County resident and graduate from Piñon Elementary School, Los Alamos Middle School and Los Alamos High School. She is pursuing a degree in Environmental Science and Art History at Western Washington University. This summer she is working as a Student Intern with Los Alamos County in the Sustainability Office, directly under the supervision of Sustainability Manager Angelica Gurule.
