By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
If homeowners place garden refuse and tree limbs in their home garbage can, they could cause problems for the landfill.
Inadvertently, they will also cause problems for themselves in the way of higher taxes and increased landfill fees.
But, despite a request from the landfill operator, Bill Mills, Mona mayor, said that he wanted the contractor for Mona's garbage service to keep picking up the cans with garden refuse and tree limbs in them.
"Back off and keep picking up the cans until we have had a chance to talk it over and come to a conclusion," said Mills.
Jay Mecham, owner of Country Garbage, who serves the community of Mona with a weekly garbage collection, met with the city council to discuss the problem of those who are misusing the system.
"There is a problem that Allen Pay (who operates the JRDA Landfill) has brought to my attention," said Mecham. "He asked me not to pick up cans that contain yard waste."
Mecham said that he was coming to the Mona City Council because he had a contract with them to provide garbage service and to pick up garbage placed inside the cans.
"I asked him to not pick up the cans of those flagrantly refusing to keep household garbage separate from yard waste," said Pay.
Pay said that he thought the Mona City Council would like to follow the same course used by the other communities in the county. He said that refusing to pick up the cans of the flagrantly disobedient was one way of educating users about the consequences.
Michelle Dalton, city secretary, said she had put a notice in the last city newsletter.
There are separate areas at the JRDA Landfill, said Pay. Each of those areas is designated for a type of garbage to be disposed of at the landfill.
One area is designated for household garbage, another for yard/garden waste and a third for disposal of construction materials.
The yard/garden waste and tree limbs are kept separate so that they can be burned at certain times of the year. That clears the area so that it can be used over and over without jeopardizing the tonnage allowed at the site. Thus, it does not count against the tonnage allowed at the landfill.
The rules need to be observed because the landfill can only have so much garbage dumped per week. If that tonnage is exceeded, then the rules for operation of the facility will change.
That could mean higher fees for everyone.
"Household garbage should be inside the garbage can and should be inside a plastic bag, like the ones received from a grocery store," said Pay.
Garbage should not be loose.
According to the EPA, the average American contributes nearly 4.5 pounds of garbage a day or 56 tons a year of garbage that is carted off to the landfill.
There, the household garbage is smashed and buried.
Residents of the United States generate almost twice as much trash per person as most other major countries.
Nearly 30 percent of trash in landfills is paper; 18 percent is food scraps and 16 percent is plastics.
Many of these items can be easily recycled, reused and reduced with some advanced planning.
"What if we put a few roll offs in town?" asked Frank Riding, council member. "Residents could put their garden refuse and tree limbs in the roll off and it could be picked up on a weekly basis."
"Could we have a separate can for green waste?" asked Bill Mills, mayor.
"That's a really big bill," said Mecham. "Every residence would need two cans, which would cost more, and the fee would be double because we would have to drive the town two times."
"It currently takes about eight hours to pick up all of the garbage in Mona," said Mecham.
Nephi City has provided a place for lawn clippings to be taken, said Frank Riding, council member.
"Citizens really use the site," he said. "Nephi City is turning the clippings into mulch."
Mona could do the same thing. The city still owns the property where the old garbage dump was once located. Those were the days before Mona joined with JRDA and the county landfill. Perhaps that site could be used for a mulch-creating area where grass clippings could be taken.
That may not solve a problem for senior citizens because they would still need to find a way to take the grass clippings and tree limbs to the roll off.
JRDA Landfill rules call for solid waste to be separated from the rest of the garbage. Household, construction and demolition and yard waste must be separated prior to dumping and now hazardous waste should be dumped.
Users are warned to dump only in designated dumping areas. County Ordinance prohibits solid waste disposal in any area of the county except in an approved landfill.
Green waste includes organic items such as brush, branches, clippings, leaves, and grass but does not include household waste of any kind, processed lumber such as 2 x 4's, pallets, crates and cardboard or construction and demolition waste.
Household waste includes all other waste types not identified as construction and demolition waste or as green waste.
