Most of us think little about what happens with our waste once we put our cans at the curb for pick up. The same goes for when we throw out napkins, cups, and receipts after a stop at the coffee shop or drop snack wrappers into a receptacle at the shopping center.
Out of sight, out of mind, right?
In Lebanon County, waste ends up at the Greater Lebanon Refuse Authority (GLRA), a 500-acre tract about 3.5 miles north of the city and spread across North Annville, North Lebanon, and Swatara townships.
There, trash is buried in one of two landfills, each of which cost millions of dollars to construct. Each also was carefully engineered to protect groundwater resources and to manage stormwater, collect methane gas, and carry leachate — liquids with contaminants that percolate through the landfill — to holding tanks.
In 2023, 9.2 million tons of municipal waste were disposed of in Pennsylvania, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection’s Bureau of Waste Management. Residential waste in tons trumps commercial waste. About 17 percent of that is food waste followed by compostable paper at 7.3 percent, according to DEP’s Waste Characterization Study in 2022.
Estimates for how much waste each person generates vary, but the Pennsylvania Waste Industries Association put the figure at 1,480 pounds per person per year.
While some of that waste is recycled or composted, the bulk — between 50 and 60 percent — is buried in landfills where it is out of sight, out of mind.
Overview
In the 1950s, Lebanon County was home to eight waste disposal sites as well as less official sites, such as ravines, ditches, and abandoned quarries where trash often was dumped (at that time, there were no state or federal regulations for waste disposal).
A planning commission study determined that seven of those needed to be closed, leaving one in North Annville Township that had been operating as a “dumping area,” according to news reports at the time.
In April 1959, the refuse authority purchased that dump along with 46 additional acres and opened for business for the nine founding municipalities.
Today, GLRA accepts waste from each of the county’s 26 municipalities. The county’s only legal disposal facility, it operates two lined landfills — the Schilling landfill that will reach capacity by the end of 2025, and the Heilmandale landfill that should have capacity until 2039.
The Schilling landfill
The first of the Schilling landfill’s seven cells opened for waste in 1991. It was GLRA’s first cell with both a polyethylene liner and a system for removing leachate from the landfill for treatment by the City of Lebanon Authority’s wastewater facility. The cost of construction was $400,000 per acre, according to GLRA.
Cells 2 through 7 followed during the next two decades with the topmost cell (cell 7) built in 2014. It was expected to reach capacity in 2018 but will now close in 2025. At that time, it will be capped with low- and high-permeability geosynthetic products and covered with two feet of soil.
The visible terraces that ring the landfill are part of its stormwater management system. Those terraces intercept rainwater as it runs down the sides of the landfill, thereby reducing erosion. Rock-lined downshoots channel stormwater to ponds.
After a hauler dumps a load of waste, machines compact it to fill voids and blend materials to reduce each load’s volume. Compacting the waste also lessens the likelihood of rainwater collecting inside the cell. Less water means less leachate.
At the end of the day, the compacted and leveled waste is covered with several inches of soil. This deters rodents and birds, reduces the likelihood of waste blown about by wind, and blunts odors.
The area that appears blue has been sprayed with grass seed, fertilizer, and mulch. This will stabilize the terrace and reduce stormwater runoff and erosion, said GLRA executive director Robert “Skip” Garner.
The Heilmandale landfill
The first of the Heilmandale’s six cells opened in August 2023. The cost to construct the lined area was about $1 million per acre, according to GLRA. Cell 8 is about nine acres and has capacity for about four years of waste.
On 48 acres, the Heilmandale landfill is being built or piggybacked on a landfill that likely operated 50 to 60 years ago and didn’t have a liner, GLRA staff engineer Jim Zendek has said.
Regulations requiring liners were enacted in 1988, according to DEP. Landfills in existence before 1988 either could install liners or close.
The gray area shown is a protected cover. Below it is a high-density polyethylene liner used to prevent groundwater contamination from decomposing waste.
Each day’s waste goes on the protective liner and is then covered. GLRA is permitted to use tarps to cover the waste temporarily, Zendek said. By using tarps, GLRA doesn’t have to mine or purchase soil to cover the daily waste.
Leachate tanks
The white tank is where GLRA stores leachate, or the liquid that is produced during the decomposition of waste. Perforated pipes within the cells collect the leachate, which is then transported in solid pipes to the tank.
GLRA estimates that the decomposition process typically generates about 11 million gallons of leachate a year. In 2024, almost 17 million gallons of leachate were generated as GLRA addressed seeps, gas collection, and black goo concerns, Zendek said. By doing so, leachate trapped within the landfill was released.
The chemical composition of the leachate depends on the type of waste deposited, the amount of water in both the waste and the cell, and weather conditions.
Heavy metals and toxic compounds often are found in leachate. This is why landfills are constructed with impermeable layers so that leachate will not get into and contaminate groundwater.
The tank, which can hold 1 million gallons, is slated for repair next summer at a cost of about $925,000. The leachate is piped to the city authority’s wastewater treatment facility.
The smaller white building is GLRA’s methane-to-energy facility. A byproduct of the decomposition of organic materials is a mixture of gases known as “landfill gas,” which is collected through a system of 74 wells.
About 50 percent of the gas is methane, which GLRA harnesses to generate electricity. GLRA captures enough energy to supply electricity to as many as 2,400 homes each day, GLRA has estimated. The newer the waste, the more methane produced. Methane production goes down with older waste.
Natural Aquatic Life Treatment System
Between its start in 1959 and 1988 when liners were required, GLRA operated landfills that did not have dedicated leachate collection and management systems. Some of that leachate and runoff found their way into a series of 14 ponds or the Natural Aquatic Life Treatment System.
Constructed in 1977, these ponds function similarly to natural wetlands in that they filter out pollutants as water moves through them. From first to last, the ponds cover about one-quarter mile, according to a 1990 GLRA newsletter.
The first three ponds are connected, where much of the sediment or soil particles settle on the bottom. From there, the leachate and runoff flow into a lagoon or deeper pond. Aerators help ensure adequate dissolved oxygen for the purification process.
Next are two ponds with water lilies and then several ponds with cattails, both plants known to absorb heavy metals that might be found in leachate.
It takes about a month for the leachate and runoff to flow through the ponds. Results of yearly testing at the final outflow to an unnamed tributary to the Swatara Creek show good water quality.
When a hauler brings waste for disposal at GLRA, the truck is weighed at the scale house. Haulers are charged a tipping fee of $72 for each ton of waste disposed of at GLRA.
DEP has set 1,100 tons as the maximum daily volume of waste that GLRA can accept. Typically, GLRA averages about 500 tons a day from Lebanon County residents, commercial enterprises, and industries, according to GLRA.
How that breaks down is unknown but likely is similar to what DEP concluded after sampling more than a dozen landfills and facilities across Pennsylvania. That study determined that about 40 percent of waste is organics such as food and yard waste, painted and unpainted wood, and diapers.
Next to the scale house is a recycling drop-off center for 14 items, including glass, plastic bottles, newspapers, magazines, and corrugated cardboard. Specifications for how to prepare items for recycling are provided on GLRA’s website.
The green-roofed building is home to GLRA’s electronics recycling program started in 2012. In its early years, big-screen TVs weighing up to 70 pounds dominated e-waste, recalled Amy Mazzella di Bosco, recycling coordinator.
Now GLRA receives a mix of electronics from cellphones and computer keyboards to game consoles and laser printers.
The e-recycling center also takes batteries and provides plastic bags for both single-use and rechargeable batteries. Batteries must weigh less than 11 pounds, and each battery must be in a clear, plastic bag.
Lithium batteries, in particular, should be dropped off for recycling. When compacted whether in a truck or at the landfill, lithium batteries can explode and cause fires.
Green waste
In addition to household and industrial waste, GLRA also accepts “green waste,” including leaves, branches, grass clippings, and tree trimming. Green waste is shredded to facilitate its decomposition and then screened to produce mulch. GLRA sells the mulch for $12 a scoop.
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