Along with household garbage and waste from construction and demolition sites, the Walker County Landfill accepts brush, tires, paper/plastic and other recyclable materials and metals.
Landfill Manager Paine Gily explained, “When they come to the scalehouse our scalehouse operators are going to ask the customer what are you bringing in? What do you have that you would like to dispose? And then based on what they tell our scalehouse operator, they will route them to the proper disposal area. And it’s just important that we not mix waste streams.”
Proper separation protects human health and the environment, and keeps materials that can be reused from taking up space in the landfill. It’s also necessary because some of the material brought to the landfill no longer stays on site. Gily said, “At the transfer station, we will take the household waste and that’s food containers, food scraps, anything for consumption that has been thrown away… food wrappings, bottles, that type of thing. The type of stuff that you would generate in your kitchen or bathroom or living room and set out on the curb for the waste disposal service to pick up. We load that into tractor trailers and then those tractor trailers are taken to a large municipal solid waste landfill in north Alabama.”
The Walker County Landfill stopped storing household waste on site in 1998, but continues to isolate construction and demolition materials at this location. “And that involves bricks, wood, wall board, tile, ceramics, things like that,” added Gily.
And because it’s the law, residents are reminded to make sure items being brought to the landfill are property secured during transport. “Please tarp your loads, so that waste doesn’t blow off onto the roadsides on the way to the landfill,” urged Gily.
The Walker County Landfill is located at 5120 North Marble Top Road, near the Animal Shelter. It’s open 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday, except on major holidays. Call the office at 706-375-8910 or check our webpage for updates. Cash, check, debit and credit cards are accepted as forms of payment.
That’s a huge load of work, things that usually stay in the background and people take for granted. That is a pity because ignorance is one step away from negligence, which in this case may lead to a sanitation crisis. I will thank mr. Gily and the Walker County Landfill on the behalf of the whole county for their effort and reminding us of the civil ways to stare and transport waste.
Does the landfill except mattress?
Yes, the landfill accepts mattresses.
When bring mattresses how is that handled? Do they go to the covered area or somewhere else>
They go to the Transfer Station. Tell the Scalehouse operator that you have a mattress or box springs, or both, and they will direct you to the Transfer Station. Offload it onto the floor and we’ll handle it from there. The disposal cost for Walker County residents is currently $10 per item.