After The Bulk Waste Is Collected From The Curb, What Happens To It? Is It True That Recyclable Or Recoverable Materials Are Also Sorted? What Happens To Them?
Residents in Dallas often drop bulk Waste at their front curb at various times throughout the month, and sanitation personnel pick it up as part of the city’s curbside waste & recycling programmes.
It’s out of site, out of mind for some Dallas residents. Others, on the other hand, are curious in what happens when the city gets their Waste.
In recent months, Dallas Morning News had received a number of inquiries about Waste and recycling, but one from an user named Dave attracted our attention. What happened to bulk trash when it’s hauled up from the curb, he wondered? Is it possible to sort recyclable and salvageable materials? What happens to them?
His query is part of Curious Texas, a News experiment that enables you to participate in our reporting process. The concept is straightforward: you have questions, & our journalists have been educated to find answers.
We couldn’t reach Dave after he asked us his query, but we were still intrigued. So we embarked on a solo expedition to find a solution.
According to Dennis Ware, manager of sanitary for McCommas Bluff Landfill in southeast Oak Cliff, any bulk trash must be designated as non-hazardous before it may leave a Dallas resident’s curb.
Chemicals that are harmful to the environment must not be present in item placed for curbside collection. Paint, lumber, Sheetrock, and antifreeze-filled appliances are among the most typical hazardous materials placed for curbside removal, according to Ware.
Sanitation employees will not gather these things, according to Ware, and residents will be told to clean them from the curb. The Dallas County Home Chemical Collecting Center in northeast Dallas can be used to dispose of hazardous materials.
Brush and other bulky objects, including such broken appliances & old furniture, are collected at the curb for bulk garbage pickup.
Residents who obey the curbside waste requirements, according to Ware, will have their Waste added to the nearly odorless McCommas Bluff Landfill, which is located south of Trinity River near the convergence of Interstate 45 & Interstate 20.
According to Danielle McClelland, recycling division manager for Dallas, McCommas Bluff started in 1981 and is Texas’ second largest landfill. According to her, just about 1,200 acres of the 2,000-acre dump are full with Waste.
The landfill is expected to continue serving the city for another 40 years. A portions of the remaining Waste-free area acts as a natural barrier, keeping wildlife out and preventing flooding at the dump.
“During the time while the city was purchasing this acreage, the neighboring neighborhoods gave us the buffer that we needed,” McClelland explained. It also provides a beautiful view of the Trinity River’s surrounding green space as well as local fauna.
When Tad Bates, the acting landfill managers at McCommas Bluff, works on the dump, he says he frequently sees animals, especially early in the morning & when the weather is colder.
“You can see thing from wild hog to deer to eagles early in the morning,” he said.
Every day, 1,800 vehicle, including garbage truck, commercial vehicles, and individual cars, visit the landfill to dispose of residential and commercial rubbish, according to Bates.
“It’s a public landfill,” he explained, “so anyone may come as long as they brings the materials we accept.” “We have toxic waste management on staff who look over loads that are chosen at random to make sure such wastes don’t cross the scale.”
Visitors dropping off garbage are required to produce a Texas driver’s identification as well as a utility statement confirming their Dallas address, according to Ware. If you don’t live in Dallas and can’t prove it, you’ll have to pay a $25 fee to dump your Waste at landfill.