The 100-Year Landfill

Cedar Glades Landfill in Garland County, Arkansas, first opened in 2000. It was designed with five phases; it took 15 years to fill up the first phase, and the final cell of phase two was recently opened. Its footprint is a little more than 60 acres, and it is estimated that the landfill will accept trash for a total of 100 years. The average life expectancy of a municipal solid waste landfill is often estimated at 30 to 50 years, and they require decades of post-closure monitoring.

A Class 4 permit allows for the disposal of construction and demolition materials, furniture, and other bulky items at the Cedar Glades Landfill.

“The top of the landfill can strain closer to its 250-foot cap as more cells and phases are opened,” writes David Showers for The Sentinel-Record. “Building out horizontally maintains slope ratios that keep the landfill's dirt, shale, and hay covering from getting too steep and eroding.”

The county has been able to make efficient use of the airspace by utilizing compactors that detect soft spots in the debris. One cubic yard of space can hold up to roughly 1,600 pounds of compacted garbage on average.

The Garland County Quorum Court Finance Committee just advanced a $100,000 appropriation on Monday that will cover the engineering costs required to open phase three of the landfill. The appropriation comes from the solid waste fund that supports not only the landfill but also weekly collection of 20,000 residential trash bins in the part of the county that is unincorporated.

“The $12.76 million 2023 solid waste budget the quorum court adopted appropriated $50,000 to the engineering and architectural line item,” Showers noted.

In 2021, the Arkansas Recycling Coalition recognized Garland County as its “Government Recycler of the Year.” The county was selected because of the landfill’s success with separating recyclables from the wastestream.