Over the past few years, Recycle Utah and its local partners have been discussing how to
improve waste management in Summit County and Park City. These discussions culminated in RU hiring a consulting team from RRS (Resource Recycling Systems) to analyze current wast
management practices and provide recommendations for the future. Recycle Utah diverts nearly 4 million pounds of material from landfills each year. However, our community as a whole is struggling to keep up with effective waste diversion, putting increasing pressure on our landfill and the environment.

Our landfill is filling up faster than it should. Limited space means that once it reaches capacity, there’s no option to expand—it simply closes. Extending the life of our landfill requires us to divert more of the materials we’re discarding. Shockingly, 40% of what currently ends up in the landfill could be easily diverted. Compostable waste, curbside recyclables, and even cardboard—accounting for 10% of the landfill’s volume—are materials that we can and should keep out of the landfill.

The stakes are high. With a growing community and the 2034 Olympics on the horizon, waste
management will only become more critical. Beyond the immediate strain on our landfill, 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from the materials process—extraction, production, and disposal. By improving our diversion practices, we’re not only preserving landfill space but also making a significant impact on our community’s carbon footprint.
RRS has conducted a thorough analysis of our local waste system, and Recycle Utah is ready
to present a proposal to address these challenges head-on. This proposal, designed to improve diversion rates and reduce landfill strain, will be shared with the community in our presentations next week. We will be calling on the community for support, as solving this issue will require collective action and commitment from us all.

Join us for our community presentations, where we will dive into the waste challenges we face and our proposed solutions. We will hold one presentation at Santy Auditorium at 6 pm on January 7th, where we will be joined by our friends at RRS. We will hold another presentation in the Richins Building Auditorium in Kimball Junction at 6 pm on January 9th.

Join us in shaping a more sustainable future for Summit County and Park City by showing your support. Let’s take action now to protect the environment for generations to come!

By Chelsea Hafer