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If you live near the Arbor Hills Landfill truck route, surely you have noticed a large number of trucks with obvious Canadian origins.
The Conservancy Initiative recently received data from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) which show the volume of waste being accepted from Canada dramatically increased since Green for Life (GFL) took control of the Arbor Hills Landfill in October 2020.
Data Highlights
In the 3 years prior to GFL, Arbor Hills accepted ZERO waste from Canada.
From April – June of 2021 (the most recent data available), 15% of the total waste volume received at Arbor Hills originated in Canada and,
20% of the municipal and commercial waste (typically residential like waste) originated in Canada.
The data obtained is from a report submitted by GFL to EGLE quarterly which details all waste received.
15% - 20% waste from Canada effectively reduces the landfill’s capacity available and expected life by 15% -20%, increases the wear and tear, and congestion on our roads, generates more PFAS containing leachate which is processed through Northville’s Sanitary Sewers, generates more community odors, etc.
The latest available data shows over 50,000 cubic yards of waste is being imported from Canada monthly which is 500 or more very large trucks every month. Everyone has a story of a friend or relative who was unable to cross the Canadian border during the COVID crisis. Those restrictions did not apply to the trash trucks. These trucks continued to cross the border during the height of our COVID crisis.
The chart below shows the origin of all Municipal and Commercial Waste (MCW) accepted at Arbor Hills during the most recent available quarter.
Oakland and Wayne Counties are the origin for most waste received at Arbor Hills.
Arbor Hill’s owner, GFL, has trash collection contracts in several of the large suburbs in Oakland and Wayne County (including Northville Twp).
Arbor Hills is Washtenaw County’s only landfill; it was approved based on Washtenaw County’s needs. It was approved so Washtenaw County would have a home for its waste but only 6% of the MCW received at Arbor Hills originates in Washtenaw. Washtenaw County could easily manage its waste without a landfill by utilizing the available landfill space in Wayne County.
What Can You Do
Importing trash from Canada is legal. Several years ago, Michigan attempted to block waste imports with legislation, but the legislation was found to be unconstitutional when the courts ruled trash is a commodity and protected by interstate trade regulations.
GFL is the only one that can influence the amount of waste it accepts from Canada. Northville and Plymouth residents should all let our community leaders know that we do not support these practices. GFL is making money as fast as they can by accepting as much waste as possible. Someday soon GFL will be asking for approval for a new landfill because the current dump is full.