Mixed Waste Composting Plant Faces Possible Closure

Cobb County, Georgia

A municipal solid waste composting plant owned and operated by Cobb County, Georgia may be closed by the end of the year, according to a news article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. According to Cobb County Commission Chairman Sam Olens, “I think there’s a very good shot we’ll have it closed by the end of the year.” The Journal- Constitution reports that Cobb County would have to pay off $19 million owed on bonds sold to finance the facility, which cost $23 million to build in 1996. It was designed to process 300 tons/day of mixed MSW and 100 wet tons/day of biosolids. The plant was initially operated as a private-public venture, with Bedminster Bioconversion Corp. receiving the operating contract. In 1999, the county took over operations, which include rotating drums for initial processing followed by indoor aerated static pile composting.

Reasons cited for the possible closure are rapid deterioration of the compost building, lack of markets for the compost, and high operating costs. (The Journal-Constitution reported that Cobb taxpayers have paid about $62 million in operating subsidies and interest on the original bonds.) About twothirds of the plant’s capacity is being used; the remainder of the county’s waste is landfilled. At the time the composting facility was being developed (about 1994), it was projected that Cobb County had less than two years worth of landfill capacity, and the Georgia Legislature had passed a law requiring local governments to reduce the amount of solid waste going into their landfills by 25 percent. It was anticipated that landfill costs would rise quickly once the county’s landfill closed. As was the case in other states, private companies stepped in to meet the potential landfill void, charging tip fees far lower than the actual per ton operating costs of a composting facility like the one in Cobb County. In addition, Georgia did not enforce the 25 percent landfill reduction requirements (which the General Assembly repealed in 2005). A final vote by the Cobb County Commissioners will determine the ultimate fate of the composting plant.

Copyright J.G. Press Inc. Jul 2005