The Ames City Council voted Tuesday to approve a deal to send the city’s solid waste to Carroll County’s landfill from 2027 to 2047.

Background: The city is moving away from its current waste-to-energy system, which burns trash to make electricity, for a new approach that focuses more on recycling and sending leftover waste to landfills.

The city’s current dump site in Boone County is running out of space, and the city can only use it until June 2027, so officials had been seeking a new place to send waste.

Recycling model: The city is building a new recycling center on Freel Drive, which will sort through all the city’s waste. Recyclable items such as plastics and metals will go to recycling companies. Yard waste such as grass and leaves will be turned into compost or hauled away. Everything else will be trucked to the Carroll County landfill per the agreement that runs through June 30, 2047.

New drop partner: Carroll County’s landfill has plenty of room and trucks can easily drive there. It might start taking the city’s trash before the 2027 start date if it finishes expanding the landfill early. The county also wants to work with the city to reduce waste and recycle more materials.

Both sides could work together to make recycling more efficient. Carroll County could send its recyclable materials to the city’s new recycling center to be sorted and sold together.

Trash cost: The city will also pay an extra $2.60 per ton to the state of Iowa, though this fee can decrease if the city does more recycling.

City staff estimates that by 2027, the total cost of dumping trash will be about $95.11 per ton when the Carroll County fees and the costs of running the new recycling center are included.

What’s next: The Carroll County Solid Waste Management Commission will vote on this deal on July 15. The city needs its approval before it can close on buying the recycling campus property on Freel Drive on July 17.

The city also needs to update its agreements with other nearby towns and agencies that currently send their trash through the city’s system. These new deals will need to last longer so the city can plan ahead and pay back the money it borrowed to build the recycling center.

Also noteworthy

The council:

• Approved a fire alarm update for the city’s power plant and awarded the contract to Van Maanen Electric Inc. of Newton ($359,895); and
• Approved the first passage of an ordinance to rezone property at 57258 220th St. from agricultural to industrial upon its annexation to the city.