CORVALLIS, Ore. – After a lengthy process, the Benton County Board of Commissioners has settled on a plan for waste management that may determine the future of the aging Coffin Butte Landfill and how the county as a whole approaches trash and recycling.
County commissioners said they officially received and approved the final report from the “Benton County Talks Trash” Solid Waste Workgroup at their meeting on June 13. The report is the result of months of continuous refinement intended to develop a strategy for managing the county’s trash in a way that engages the community. Commissioners said the report is a huge milestone for the county’s first-ever management framework for solid waste and sustainable materials.
The report approved by county commissioners includes recommendations that have been worked on for more than a year that will guide officials in implementing a sustainable materials management plan. Commissioners said that includes ways to address the full life cycle of materials from production to disposal. The numerous recommendations include keeping an eye towards sustainability, reevaluating the county’s collaboration with other counties that send their waste to Coffin Butte, and bringing in more stakeholders from the community when it comes to decisions about the landfill.
“With 124 recommendations formally considered, the report lays the groundwork for a constructive path forward,” Board Chair Pat Malone said. “This path fosters common understandings about Sustainable Materials Management and the future of solid waste disposal in the mid-Willamette Valley, including at the Coffin Butte regional landfill.”
The recommendation is a result of a year-long effort spurred by the deteriorating state of the Coffin Butte Landfill. The landfill handles all of Benton County’s solid waste as well as garbage from several neighboring counties, but recent estimates guess that it will reach capacity in about 15 years.
County commissioners said that as part of the effort to implement a plan for solid waste, Oregon State University’s College of Agricultural Sciences has offered to appoint a liaison between OSU’s Sustainability Double Degree Program and Benton County. Benton County Commissioners said they accepted the offer, and the partnership will provide research and learning opportunities for OSU students as well as resources for the county and community.
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