Questions & Answers

Why Must Grass and Leaves be Kept Separate? The State has imposed a ban on placing leaves and grass in the landfill from April 1st through November 30th of each year. This ban was put into place for numerous reasons:

First, grass is one of the largest contributors of liquid in the landfill process. As it decomposes, the liquid drains through the trash and causes leaching into the ground water.

Secondly, grass is a large contributor in the generation of methane gas during the decomposition process. This places many risks and additional expenses to the landfill operation.

Third, grass takes up a large amount of space in the landfill design and causes excessive settling in the compaction process. Because grass and leaves are so easily recycled, composted, and reused, it just makes good environmental and economical sense to separate and compost these materials.

In the last few years, we have been able to purchase the equipment, including a compost turner and a screen, that is necessary for the composting of the grass and leaves. At sometime in the near future, we would like to make the compost available to the residents of McCook.

As a way to adhere to this requirement, the City of McCook has given our citizens several options for disposing of their yard waste. The first option is to bring their yard waste to the transfer station during regular business hours. This option is free to citizens who have a trash account with the City. The second option is to rent a 90 gallon container for $5 per month. This container is dumped every Wednesday beginning in April and continuing through November. The fee is added to the individuals utility bill for the months that we collect it. The third option was the placement of green 600 gallon containers at various locations around town.

If you are interested in renting a compost can or have any questions concerning composting, please call the Transfer Station at 345-7049.