There is one great truth about landfill transfer stations: On any working day, an item of Christmas decor will be thrown onto one of the many piles of used-up stuff.
And so it was Tuesday at Tacoma Landfill’s new Recovery and Transfer Center, located off Center Street near the entrance to Fircrest. A Christmas tree stand, one of the good round ones, lay on the cement floor, achingly close to a yard waste pile of evergreen branches.
Dedicated on Sept. 25, the transfer center at 3510 S. Mullen St. already has that lived-in feel, even more so if you reside in a college dorm.
It is piled with clothes, toys and books tossed from the backs of mini vans, lawn furniture, cribs, beds and mattresses hoisted from pickup truck beds.
Remodelers in panel trucks chuck sinks, carpet, chunks of wallboard and scores of plastic bags stuffed with deceased insulation.
A U-Haul rental van leaves behind socks and blankets, a dog bed and plastic toys – the life some family has outgrown.
Every pile has a history, and most have a future. That’s why the first word in the building’s title is “Recovery” and the third is “Transfer.”
The whole landfill is designed to keep as much stuff as possible out of it.
Just past the entrance, the Recycling Center has the look of a happy lane in a 1950s movie. The hedges are trimmed to geometric perfection. A Goodwill truck stands open and ready to receive the rocking horse with more gallop left in her, the lamp that’s just about retro.
Giant baskets of petunias and million bells hang from ornate brackets. Green street signs announce “paper items,” “cardboard,” “glass” and “aluminum.” Around Christmas, look for “Styrofoam” street near the motor oil collection kiosk.
That welcoming set-up coaxes heaps of stuff out of the about 500 vehicles a day headed for the transfer center.
Engineer Lewis Griffith gave it super trash-sorting powers, primarily chutes leading to compactors. Assistant division managers Andrew Torres and Dave Carlisle are figuring out how best to employ them.
It will involve bulldozers, claws and choreography.
“We’ll be pulling out things like clear dimensional lumber, carpet, cardboard, metal and mattresses,” Carlisle said.
Old carpet can be processed into new, and mattresses can be mined for springs, wooden supports, even foam.
Trash lumber will go in with yard waste to become fuel or compost.
Large appliances will have a rest stop before they’re carted off to be disassembled. They are named “white goods,” in honor of a time before stainless and black became the finishes of choice.
The crew looks at what comes in, how much and who’s dropping it off. They are figuring out where to put collection bins so people can toss recyclables in a logical procession.
With that system, they expect to recycle more and bury less. That will become more important in 2014, when they expect the landfill will be full and the city will have to truck its garbage to another owned by Land Recovery Inc. at 304th Street in Graham.
They also expect the new building to draw fewer birds than the old, emit less dust, cut electricity costs and help flush toilets.
Griffith used wires and stakes to trip up gulls and crows looking for a roof roost. He added water-misters to disperse clouds of dust and exhaust. Vents will open to make way for breezes, and solar panels will pick up part of the lighting tab. Pipes will collect roof runoff and send the water to the building’s flush toilets.
With all that, they expect to earn a Leed Silver rating for efficiency.
From planning to completion, the center has cost about $27 million, paid for through garbage fees and bonds.
“It came in about 20 percent below estimate costs,” Griffith said.
Not too shabby. But then, these guys hate wasting waste.
A pickup truck eased past them, with a maple armchair in the bed.
“Look at that chair,” one of three said.
“Maybe the seat could be reupholstered,” said another.
“We should check it out for Goodwill,” said the third.
Now that’s waste management for you. And the Christmas tree stand has possibilities, too.
Kathleen Merryman: 253-597-8677
kathleen.merryman@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/street
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