Washtenaw County is already surrounded by numerous long‑lived landfills. Within roughly 50 miles, there are at least 16 active facilities with about 13 years of aggregated permitted capacity remaining. Importantly, the landfill capacity figures reflect only space currently permitted for landfill use and exclude proposed expansions. Most of these sites are owned and operated by highly profitable corporations that are planning to increase capacity—not wind down operations. For example, several landfills, including Pine Tree Acres and McGill Road Landfill, are actively seeking permits to expand.
Northville Township residents know this all too well, as they have expected Arbor Hills to close for years based on the state's capacity data, only to learn that the landfill plans to add new landfill capacity.
Figure 1 - 16 permitted landfills are operating within approximately 50 miles of Washtenaw County. A NEW LANDFILL is not needed. Washtenaw should concentrate on recycling opportunities.
Figure 2 - Permitted landfillls within 50 miles of Washtenaw County
Washtenaw County doesn't need a new landfill—it needs to follow Michigan's own trash policy and ramp up recycling.
Michigan's solid waste law sets clear recycling goals: increase recycling from about 20% today to 30% by 2029, and eventually to 45%. If communities within 50 miles of Washtenaw County simply meet those targets, more than 1,000,000 tons of trash per year would be diverted from landfills at 30%, and around 2,500,000 tons at 45%—roughly the capacity of a landfill the size of Arbor Hills. Hitting the state's recycling goals effectively erases any claimed “need” for new landfill capacity in this region.
We don't need a new landfill. We need to invest in waste diversion—recycling, composting, and reuse—so less municipal trash ever reaches a landfill in the first place.
NO NEW LANDFILL!!!