October 24, 2005
RALEIGH – Wake County should not replace the North Wake landfill, closing in 2007, with a new county-owned facility, according to the author of a new analysis published Monday by the John Locke Foundation.
Michael Sanera, local-government analyst and research director with the Raleigh-based think tank, wrote a Spotlight briefing paper on the scheduled close of the North Wake landfill, the proposed county replacement, and larger state and national trends pointing towards privatization and consolidation.
“Private entrepreneurs now build environmentally safe landfills and provide their services to cities and towns at competitive prices,” Sanera said.
He examined Wake County’s proposal to replace the North Wake landfill with another county-owned facility in the southern part of the county. He warned against such action, stating this idea would stifle the solid-waste market in the region and end up only increasing costs of waste disposal for Wake taxpayers. He also noted that real-estate prices in Holly Springs had risen dramatically since the landfill was first proposed, suggesting that other uses of the land would have more economic payoffs.
“The cities in Wake County are locking themselves into a contract that creates a 25-year monopoly for the county-owned landfill,” he said. “The basic economics of this proposal are troublesome.”
Sanera concluded that Wake should allow its cities to shop around and secure the best landfill prices from private waste contractors, thus contributing to the dynamic solid-waste market in the state.
“Each city could then seek the most cost-efficient and environmentally friendly landfill services for its citizens,” he said.
Michael Sanera’s Spotlight, “Bring Out Your Trash: Wake County’s Dilemma and Why Solid Waste Markets Matter,” is available on the John Locke Foundation website. For more information, contact Sanera ([email protected]) at (919) 828-3876.