In 1988, the Authority took ownership of the City of Huntsville Landfill and has operated and maintained it since that time. The Landfill property consists of 286 acres with a total disposal area of 178.23 acres.  The closed municipal solid waste landfill consists of 61.18 acres. Cell 25 consists of 35 acres for municipal solid waste, construction and demolition waste, industrial waste, and incinerator ash disposal.  The construction and demolition waste disposal area consists of 82.05 acres.

 

Landfill vs. Dumps
“Dumps” are a thing of the past!  Open dumps were large pits where trash was left uncovered.  Today’s landfills, such as the one in Huntsville, are considered to be sanitary and better for the environment.

Before garbage or trash is put into a landfill cell, many layers of protection must be established.  A complex liner system is established to prevent “leachate” from reaching the water table.  Leachate is water that passes through a landfill.  Once the holes are dug, the liner system starts with a 2 foot clay liner followed by a 60 mil high density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic liner.

Next a “leachate collection system” is added, which is a system of perforated pipes located within a drainage medium (rounded river rock) and wrapped in filter cloth that is installed on top of the liner system.  The leachate collection flows to the city of Huntsville’s waste water treatment plant.  As waste is placed in the landfill, a layer of earth is used to cover the landfill.  Because of these barriers, pollution from the waste does not seep into the ground and scavenger pests are reduced.  This type of landfill is called a Subtitle D Landfill.

 

Types of Material
The Landfill accepts the following classes of material:

Municipal Solid Waste
(household garbage)

 

Construction and Demolition Waste
(yard waste and certain other waste) 

Examples include: Sheet rock, wallboard, panels, lumber, wood pallets, roofing, wiring, and non-hazardous electrical scrap, pipe, building construction metals, insulation (excluding asbestos), brick, concrete, asphalt, stone, soil, trees, limbs, shrubbery and grass trimmings.

 

Industrial Waste
Industrial waste only accepted with ADEM approval letter.

 

Tires
Tires with sidewalls removed can be placed in the C&D area of the landfill and C&D rates.
Tires without sidewalls removed fall under special rates.

 

Asbestos-bearing waste
Accepted under specific guidelines. Call 256-881-8700 for instructions.