City’s figures show potential for long-term savings on landfill

UPDATE: We asked about the cost to build the city’s garbage transfer station. The facility costs $530,000 and is being funded through the operating revenue of the city’s solid waste enterprise fund, according to City Manager Chris Hobby. “Even without the move to Campbellton, the transfer station made sense because of the savings in fuel costs and wear-and-tear on our vehicles.”

On Monday, we posted a story about how the City of Bainbridge plans to save money on transporting garbage to the Springhill Landfill in Campbellton, Fla., by using a transfer station off Avenue C. The city’s six trash trucks will drop off their full loads at the transfer station, where the trash will be loaded into a semi trailer truck that can take up to 20 tons to the landfill at one time.

By our calculations, the city looks to save hundreds of dollars per week taking its trash to Campbellton, rather than the Decatur County Landfill off U.S. 27 South. Although fuel and labor costs are higher to make the approximately 110-mile round trip to Campbellton, versus 40 miles round trip to the Decatur County Landfill, the city saves $5.50 per ton on tipping fees at Campbellton, making up the difference. Those savings were a primary reason the Bainbridge City Council awarded its garbage business to Waste Management Inc., over the Decatur County Landfill and another landfill in Thomas County.

On Tuesday, city officials sent over their revised cost analysis showing the full projected costs of taking garbage to Campbellton over a five-year period. The costs are also compared with amounts that would have been paid at the Decatur County Landfill. Below are two tables: one contains the expected costs; the second table represents a “worst-case” scenario.

In summary, the City of Bainbridge expects to save $101,781.25 over five years taking the garbage to Campbellton, or save at least $65,271.01 in a worst-case scenario.

What do you think?

[polldaddy poll=8097674]