As Michigan pursues climate goals, landfills remain a hidden source of emissions, but one county leader is working to fix that.
Every day, about 800 garbage trucks roll into the South Kent Landfill just outside of Grand Rapids, dumping everything from old sofas to food waste. The landfill is now nearly full, sitting at around 95% capacity.
As head of the county’s Department of Public Works, Darwin Baas is trying to reduce how much waste ends up in the landfills. Over the past decade, Baas has led waste reduction efforts, including capturing methane from the landfill and keeping Michigan’s only waste-to-energy incinerator running.
“The South Kent Landfill is a voluntary program we installed in partnership with a private company, the ability to generate electricity,” Baas said. “So whether you’re generating RNG, renewable natural gas, or electricity, or just flaring it off.”
Baas is also planning a business park that would turn food and yard waste into useful products.
Unlike most of Michigan, where 49 of 60 landfills are privately run for profit, Kent County manages waste publicly. Food is the heaviest part of Michigan’s trash, and because landfills profit by weight, there’s a financial incentive to keep it buried.
Baas believes Michigan could lead in waste recovery, but says it requires more than technical fixes.
