Rutherford County is one of the top five most populated counties in Tennessee, and its population growth is expected to be the highest in the state, rising from the current 300,000 residents to an expected 420,000 people by 2030. The county, which has no curbside collection of recyclables, provides solid waste disposal and recycling services to its residents through 14 recycling centers, as well as electronic waste disposal and recycling services through the Rutherford County Recycle Center.
“The most pressing challenges facing the county and the city at present are remarkable population growth and locally available disposal capacity for both municipal solid waste and debris,” says Murfreesboro Mayor Shane McFarland. “GBB’s team clearly understands the challenges Rutherford County faces and has a sound approach to create a long-term vision with an achievable roadmap for our future solid waste management system.”
As part of this assignment, the GBB Project Team says it will conduct a planning and public decision-making process that will review key factors such as: technology and management options for the future solid waste management system; who the solid waste management system should serve; how the system should be implemented; and how the system will be administered.
“The city of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County have asked us to carry out a multistep process to engage stakeholders to set the vision for how the region manages its municipal solid waste going forward,” says GBB Senior Vice President John G. Carlton, who will serve as project manager for this assignment. “Initially, we will define which public entities will be part of a future solid waste management system, the possible establishment of a countywide or regional authority and preliminary consideration of solid waste management options.”
The county owns and operates the Rutherford County Landfill, a class III/IV facility expected to reach capacity within four years. For municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal services, the county currently disposes approximately 258,000 tons of MSW per year at the locally available private landfill through its Host Community Agreement.
The city of Murfreesboro, which is the county seat and geographic center of Tennessee, operates one convenience center and provides residential curbside garbage and yard waste collection services. It also operates the Murfreesboro Mulch facility to manage yard waste and brush.
GBB is a national solid waste management consulting firm founded in 1980 that says it helps public and private entities do better things with waste. GBB specializes in solid waste collection, processing, recycling, resource recovery, and disposal issues and assists in planning, procuring and implementing cost-effective facilities and services.
