Oct. 17 – SUPERIOR – City residents will have one last chance to use the landfill on Moccasin Mike Road for free before the landfill closes to the public at the end of October.
As of November 1, the only traffic allowed into the final cell of the landfill will be licensed commercial haulers.
While the change is not expected to impact regular trash service in Superior, and some materials will still be collected from the public there, cleaning up the garage or basement will require alternative solutions if the materials do not fit in the trash bin.
“We’re running out of ways to make it safe,” said Darienne McNamara, landfill manager. “We tried to stretch this out as long as possible.”
That’s why the city is planning its last free dump days from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on October 19 and 26. Materials accepted for free include household waste, brush, grass clippings and leaves; a maximum of four tires of 18 inches or less per household; and electronic waste. Mattresses and box springs can also be recycled for €25-€30.
The landfill remains open for city garbage trucks,
Western Lake Superior Sanitation District
(WLSSD) and other commercial carriers with self-unloading trucks until closure, expected by the end of 2026.
“We’re essentially building a pyramid, so as you go higher and higher in the pyramid, the area gets smaller and smaller,” said McNamara. “We’re pretty close to the top of the pyramid and we’re running out of room to have two separate landfills, which is what we’ve always done.”
McNamara said there is simply no more room for separate landfills for commercial haulers and the public. That separation is necessary to keep the public safe, McNamara said.
“We need to get rid of one, and we are contractually obligated to continue using commercial trucks,” McNamara said. “That keeps the doors open financially.”
Nearly 90% of the landfill’s budget is paid for by WLSSD, commercial transportation services and municipal waste services.
There are alternatives the public can take advantage of, such as Core Advantage on Garfield Avenue in Superior, McNamara said. She said the company can still send waste to the landfill. She said other options include WLSSD’s material recovery center or other waste haulers in the area.
“There’s another place people can go with their stuff,” McNamara said. “I don’t know what rates they charge.”
Core Advantage offers dumpsters for pickup and is a community waste and recycling center, according to the company
website.
The city will still collect from the landfill some recycled materials that do not require the public to go to the dump, including electronic waste, tires, mattresses, leaves and brushes.
The city is finishing a road that will allow haulers to fill the landfill, but that will require clearing the road for the public to drop off waste, said Public Works Director Todd Janigo.
The Superior City Council on Tuesday, Oct. 15, approved an agreement with NewGen Strategies and Solutions of Austin, Texas, to plan for the possibility that the city’s waste may have to go elsewhere. The city worked with the company in 2014 to explore privatization of waste collection and a possible sale of the city-owned landfill.
