Flathead County Landfill getting less trash

The Daily Inter Lake

Even the Flathead County Landfill is feeling the recession.

Largely because of the decline in construction, the landfill last year collected nearly 18,000 fewer tons of garbage, the lowest tonnage in five years.

"The biggest portion of the decrease is construction waste," Flathead County Public Works Director Dave Prunty said. "Even the demolition of old buildings has slowed down, because they don't need the space to build new homes."

In 2008, the landfill received 111,064 tons of waste. That compares to a record 128,920 tons in 2007 and 111,653 tons in 2004.

Green-box use likewise is declining.

It remained steady during the high-growth years of 2005 to 2007, at around 31,400 tons of waste annually, but in 2008 the green-box tonnage dropped to 28,886 tons.

Junk-vehicle collections have decreased dramatically, from 425 cast-off vehicles in 2005 to 183 vehicles last year.

Recycling was a bright spot in 2008. Since 2003 the landfill has recycled roughly 400 tons a year, but last year 936 tons were recycled.