Lexington’s City Council continues to explore ways to change how it handles waste in the bluegrass community. Members of a Council committee got a long-awaited consultant study on ways to reduce garbage going to the landfill.
Council members took two separate trips in 2015 and 2022 to examine a waste digester program in Sevierville Tennessee. It uses five rotary drums to break down waste into compostable material. Environmental Quality and Public Works Commissioner Nancy Albright said waste from a high tourism area is different from that in Fayette County.
“The consultants specifically recommended that we not move forward with the rotary drum system…that the cost plus the maintenance and the volumes that we have make it untenable,” said Albright.
What’s recommended as an option is an aerated static pile process where air is forced through a pile for degradation. That system would require residents to combine food waste with yard waste to go to the site. Council Member Whitney Baxter said it would still mean waste separation.
“With the onus being on our population to kind of being the first line of defense as far as separation is concerned I don’t know what the buy-in would be from the community on that,” said Baxter.
Council Member Dave Sevigny said savings through waste diversion from the landfill need further study. The initial cost of the source-separated organics is estimated at $8 million. A council subcommittee will review the issue further.
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