Cincinnati-based waste and recycling company Rumpke hosted an open house on Saturday at its newest landfill location on Route 33 southeast of Effingham to better connect with the community.
Along with free food, games, raffles and touch-a-truck opportunities, Rumpke communication manager Molly Yeager gave bus tours showing riders Landfill 33. Although the company didn’t purchase the landfill until February 2024, it opened in 1981.
“People know that trash goes away, but they don’t know exactly where that ‘away’ is,” said Yeager.
Rumpke allows other companies to use the landfill, but there is a charge. Every truck is weighed when it enters and leaves the landfill because Rumpke has to pay taxes to the state of Illinois for garbage being brought there and because the landfill has an annual maximum amount of trash that can be brought in.
The landfill receives 400 to 500 tons of trash each weekday and less than that on Saturdays.
First, a 25 to 30 foot hole is excavated and is lined with about three feet of clay on the bottom and sides to ensure nothing gets through. Then a layer of polyethylene that has been welded together is used on top of the clay. After that, a geotextile layer is used to protect the plastic liner and allows liquids to be transferred out of the landfill to a local wastewater treatment plant. On top of that, a fluff layer of garbage from people’s homes is placed. Finally, the fifth layer is more waste and garbage.
When workers are finished for the day, they cover the waste with tarps to help control scavenging from local wildlife.
Portable litter fencing is also strategically placed at the landfill to help contain light-weight trash that might blow away.
“One of our philosophies is we want to be invisible at the property line,” said Yeager. “We don’t want you to smell us. We don’t want you to see us.”
There is a series of wells at the landfill to collect landfill gas which is then burned off, but Yeager said Rumpke will soon be using a landfill gas-to-energy facility by partnering with M2X Energy.
“We’re looking at recycling options for out here because we do need to look at how we can reduce, reuse and recycle,” said Yeager.
Effingham County Board Chairman Joshua Douthit visited Rumpke’s open house to see how they were interacting with the community because he believes that’s important. In February 2024 during the changeover from Sanitation Service to Rumpke, the leadership at Rumpke introduced themselves to Douthit, and Douthit said he likes to stay in-touch with them.
“It’s a neat way to interact and reach out,” said Douthit. “You wouldn’t have thought a trash company would be having big events, but it’s pretty cool. Glad to see it.”
Effingham citizen Kelley Esker visited the open house to learn more about the landfill.
“I’ve been wanting to take a tour for a while, and I just think that this is great for the community to come out and just really look and see where our waste goes,” said Esker. “I just think it’s wonderful they’re offering a tour for the entire operation so we can learn and just educate ourselves where the waste goes. It’s interesting.”