Rutherford County is taking a large stride towards solving its garbage collection and disposal issues through the establishment of a new county-run transfer station facility, expected to be open by this summer.

Area commercial haulers—many of whom currently use Middle Point Landfill—will soon be able to dispose of solid waste at the transfer station, located just south of the Middle Point property in the Walter Hill community, near the Lebanon Pike and Jefferson Pike intersection.

Presently all waste that is collected at the county’s convenience centers is taken to Middle Point Landfill. When Middle Point closes, that waste will need to be transported to another landfill. Rutherford County has recently entered into a 15-year contract with Cedar Ridge, a Waste Management landfill in Marshall County.

The transfer station will aggregate waste from area haulers before it is sent to the Cedar Ridge Landfill. The plant will be 12,000 square feet and have huge bay doors for easy entry of vehicles. A nightly cleaning regimen will ensure everything remains in pristine condition. Rather than act as a dump site, the transfer station will smash and quickly transport trash to its destination outside of the county.

Rutherford County Solid Waste Director Bishop Wagener refuted claims that the county would face tax hikes by pursuing a plan to operate its own $20 million-plus solid waste transfer station, as the transfer station would generate revenue by charging fees to trash haulers, revenue that would offset some of the county’s solid waste budget, ensuring that the operation remains financially self-sustaining without negatively impacting taxpayers.

Plus, Rutherford County officials say they can make wait times shorter in comparison to those at Middle Point Landfill for local commercial trash haulers, and make trash drop-off fees lower.

The plan is to make the waste collection process more efficient and reduce the dependency of the area on the Middle Point Landfill, the largest landfill in the state of Tennessee.

Earlier this year, Republic Services announced a bold $1.1 billion proposal to expand Middle Point Landfill. Republic has announced its aims to purchase land adjacent to its landfill—land currently owned by Rutherford County—in order to expand and lengthen the life of Middle Point.

Its proposal includes the creation of a council to promote transparency between the company and the community. Republic has even suggested taking on the debt of $26 million, which Rutherford County owes on the new transfer station and converting the site into a recycling and diversion center.

The vision for the future of the transfer station from Republic is to take recyclable materials, package them in bales, and then sell them as commodities.

In a heated discussion on WGNS Radio with Rutherford County Mayor Joe Carr, Republic Services Area Director Mike Classen had this to say regarding the transfer station: “Instead of shipping garbage through it and shipping that garbage to another county who hopefully will accept it regardless of the cost, what we would propose to do is instead of hauling all of the recycling from county convenience centers all the way up to the north side of Nashville, through Nashville traffic and paying someone to transport it, we would ship the material in bulk at the transfer station, bale it and sell that as commodities to bring revenue into the county. We feel that there’s a better use for the transfer station, that it can generate revenue rather than a massive expense.”

Murfreesboro Mayor Shane McFarland has been a vocal opponent of any expansion beyond current landfill activity.

“The city has been and continues to be strongly opposed to any expansion of Middle Point landfilling activities, whether an expansion north as was in jeopardy in this lawsuit or expansion south onto the old Rutherford County Landfill that BFI and its corporate parent Republic Services are currently attempting to get the County Commission to approve,” McFarland stated.

Murfreesboro is also conducting a feasibility study to determine the benefits of annexing the 809-acre property where the Middle Point Landfill is located. The annexation could give the city greater control over the operations of the landfill and even allow it to tax the property, which further justifies its position on municipal trash management issues.

Rutherford County Mayor Joe Carr also remains strongly opposed to sale of county land to Republic in order to expand the local landfill.

“Do we want Rutherford County to have the world’s largest landfill? That’s where we’re headed,” Carr said. “My goal is to stop Republic from bringing in 700,000 tons of trash from surrounding counties. If the commission OKs Republic Services’ proposal to purchase county land, I will veto it.”

There is not a date set yet for the Rutherford County commission to vote on the sale of its land to Republic.

Creating a new landfill requires a lot of ground preparation, meaning removing topsoil and disturbing natural ecosystems. Mounting ecological pressure is putting more focus on reducing reliance on landfills. New waste management technologies are turning more towards recycling, composting, and even waste-to-energy systems, all designed to reduce the environmental burden of waste disposal. The issue of how Rutherford County will deal with its waste is far from solved, but the new transfer station opening soon could be a step towards a more efficient system, one that does not rely on the expansion of Middle Point Landfill and its pile of waste that is Walter Hill’s Mt. Trashmore.