Newby Island landfill facts for kids

The Newby Island Landfill is one of the biggest active places where trash is buried, right by the San Francisco Bay. It's located in Santa Clara County, California, in the United States. Even though its address is in Milpitas, California, the landfill itself is completely inside the city of San Jose, California.

This huge area is about 5 kilometers long. It's where most of the trash from San Jose, Santa Clara, Milpitas, Cupertino, and Los Altos goes. 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 plant.

The landfill even makes its own Electricity! It does this by burning methane gas that comes from the rotting trash. Dried sewage from a nearby water treatment plant is mixed with the trash to cover it up. A company called Republic Services runs the Newby Island Landfill. They handle a lot of the household trash in the United States.

Many different things come into the Newby Island Landfill. This includes regular trash, clean soil used to cover the trash or make roads, and materials from building and demolition projects. These building materials are sorted and recycled to be used again. Other things like biosolids (treated waste), green waste, and organic materials are used as a daily cover for the trash.

Big items like appliances, tires, carpet, and cardboard are also brought here. They are either recycled or used in helpful ways. Organic materials, like food scraps, are ground up and used as mulch to stop dirt from washing away. They can also be used as a daily cover or sent away to become fuel or help soil grow.

Today, the entire area is known as the Newby Island Resource Recovery Park. This park includes both the Newby Island Landfill and a recycling center.

History of the Landfill

The Newby Island Landfill first opened way back in 1938. Back then, it was an open dump where trash was burned. In 1956, it changed into a proper landfill, and the San Jose Scavenger Company started running it.

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

Later, in 1973, a company called Browning-Ferris Industries (BFI) took over the operations.

Growing Bigger

In 1981, the landfill was allowed to expand by 67 hectares. This made Newby Island Landfill the largest landfill in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In 1994, the landfill started composting operations, which means turning organic waste into useful soil. Later, there was an agreement between the cities of Milpitas and San Jose, and the landfill companies. This agreement led to moving the composting area to a different part of the landfill. This was done to help reduce bad smells for nearby communities.

In 1999, BFI was sold to Allied Industries.

In 2007, a plan to make the landfill 95 feet taller was suggested. San Jose approved this plan in 2012.

In 2008, Allied Waste was bought by Republic Services.

A Recycling Hub

In August 2012, Republic Services announced the Newby Island Resource Recovery Park. This park, located at the same site, became one of the world's largest recycling operations. It can process a huge amount of different types of waste every hour. This facility 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 make the landfill even taller, up to 245 feet. This would also increase how much trash it could hold. The new date for the landfill to close would be 2041. Even though the City of Milpitas and its residents protested, San Jose approved this plan on December 7, 2016.

Addressing Odor Concerns

In 2016, Republic Services reached a legal agreement about the landfill's smell problems. Republic agreed to create a fund of $1.2 million for homes within 2.4 kilometers of the landfill. They also agreed to spend $2 million over the next five years to reduce odors. This included improving the gas collection system and changing how composting was done.

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

In 2016, the City of Milpitas decided not to use Newby Island Landfill for its trash anymore. Milpitas also chose a different company, Garden City Sanitation, to collect its garbage. 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 collecting and disposing of garbage.

Here's a quick look at how the landfill's permits changed:

• Design capacity: Increased from 50.8 million cubic yards to 65.9 million cubic yards.
• Maximum height: Increased from 150 feet to 245 feet.
• Estimated closure date: Changed from 2025 to 2041.