Newby Island landfill facts for kids

The Newby Island Landfill (NISL) is a very large place where trash is buried. It's located near the San Francisco Bay in Santa Clara County, California, United States. Even though its address is in Milpitas, the landfill itself is completely inside the city of San Jose. It's one of the biggest active landfills close to the San Francisco Bay.

This landfill is the main place for trash from many cities, including San Jose, Santa Clara, Milpitas, Cupertino, and Los Altos. The area where trash is piled up is about 342 acres big. It's allowed to operate until the year 2041 and can grow up to 245 feet tall. The landfill is like an island surrounded by a wall called a levee. This levee stops dirty water from flowing directly into the bay. Any water that drains from the landfill is cleaned at its own special treatment plant. The landfill even makes its own electricity! It does this by burning methane gas, which is produced when trash breaks down. Dried sewage from a nearby San Jose treatment plant is mixed with the trash to help cover it. The landfill is run by a company called Republic Services.

The Newby Island Landfill takes in many different kinds of materials. This includes regular trash, clean soil used to cover the trash or make temporary roads, and materials from construction and demolition (C&D). C&D materials are sorted and recycled to be used again. Other things like biosolids (treated waste), processed C&D debris, and green waste are also used to cover the trash daily. Big recyclable items like old appliances, tires, carpets, and cardboard are also sent here. They are either recycled or used in helpful ways. Organic materials, like food scraps, are ground up and used as mulch to stop soil from washing away, or they are sent off-site to be used as fuel or to improve soil.

The whole area is now called the Newby Island Resource Recovery Park. This park includes both the Newby Island Landfill and a special recycling center called the Recyclery.

History of Newby Island

How It Started

The Newby Island Landfill first opened way back in 1938. For many years, it was an "open burning dump," meaning trash was simply burned there. But in 1956, it changed and became a proper landfill, where trash is buried. The San Jose Scavenger Company started running the landfill operations that year.

In 1968, the landfill area became part of the city of San Jose.

Growing Bigger

In 1973, a company called Browning-Ferris Industries (BFI) of Northern California took over running the site. Later, in 1981, the landfill was allowed to expand by 166 acres. This made Newby Island Landfill the largest landfill in the entire San Francisco Bay Area.

In 1994, the landfill started a new operation: composting. This is where organic materials are turned into nutrient-rich soil. However, there were some complaints about bad smells. So, the composting area was moved to a different part of the landfill to help reduce the odor.

In 1999, BFI was sold to another company called Allied Industries.

Dealing with Smells

In 2007, a plan was suggested to make the landfill 95 feet taller. This plan was approved by San Jose in 2012. In 2008, Allied Waste was bought by Republic Services Group.

In August 2012, Republic Services announced that the Newby Island Resource Recovery Park, located at the same site, had the world's largest recycling operation. This facility can process up to 110 tons of different types of waste every hour. It handles all the commercial waste from businesses in San Jose. The Newby Island site now includes the local trash hauling company, the recycling center, the composting facility, and the landfill itself.

In 2014, Allied Waste asked for permission to increase the landfill's height even more, from 150 feet to 245 feet. This would allow it to hold much more trash, changing its estimated closing date from 2025 to 2041. Even though the City of Milpitas and its citizens protested, the plan was approved in December 2016.

In 2016, the Newby Island Landfill settled a lawsuit about the smells coming from the landfill. Republic Services, the owner, agreed to create a $1.2 million fund for homes within 1.5 miles of the landfill. Republic also promised to spend $2 million over the next five years to reduce the odors. This included improving the gas collection system and changing how the composting works.

Also in 2016, the Newby Island landfill started the South Bay Odor Stakeholders Group. This group brings together different agencies and facilities that produce smells in the area. They hold meetings to try and solve the odor problems.

Milpitas Changes Its Mind

Also in 2016, the City of Milpitas decided not to send its trash to Newby Island Landfill anymore. Milpitas also chose a different company, Garden City Sanitation, to collect its garbage instead of Republic Services. Milpitas voters strongly supported sending their city's garbage to a different landfill owned by Waste Management, called Kirby Canyon Landfill. This decision ended Republic's long contract with Milpitas for both garbage collection and disposal.