Mesa County Solid Waste Management was recently awarded for their innovative way of using garbage.
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The organization received the program innovation award from the North America Hazardous Materials Management Association for being the first landfill facility within the state to use discard latex paint in an innovative way.
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The paint is being used as a daily cover for the landfill to prevent interaction between the waste and the air, reduce odors and give vehicles a firm base for driving.
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By using this method of recycling the facility has saved $11,300 by not disposing of the paint and thousands of more dollars in litter control.
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Facility members say this award now puts them among three other entities of its kind within the state of Colorado and helps prove the Western Slope does not lack creativity.听
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Before using paint as a way to cover the landfill the facility would use soil but a recent problem led to this new idea.
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“Here at the Mesa County Landfill we have a soil deficit so we had to really think of other ways that we could cover the trash at the end of the day, other than soil. We have Household Hazardous Waste collection facility on site. Residents bring us waste latex paint that we would normally pay to ship out and have properly disposed of,” said Jennifer Richardson, Compliance Manager, Mesa County.
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The paint is mixed with other chemicals before it is used to cover the landfill and just within the last year the facility was able to recycle 3,800 gallons of paint.
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