Nashville city leader sounds alarm on Tennessee's landfill capacity
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — The state of Tennessee is looking for somewhere to take out the trash.
Solid waste experts say there’s a crisis happening because there aren’t any new landfills.
Sharon Smith with Metro Public Works has been watching the issue for years. At a Solid Waste Regional Board meeting Monday, Smith said it’s no longer a Nashville problem—it’s a regional problem.
And it’ll only going to get worse if action isn’t taken.
“We have more than one option,” Smith said. “And this option means other materials can be created out of your aluminum cans or your plastic bottles. Maybe we can reduce what’s going in the oceans and on the ground as litter.”
Smith said she hasn’t always felt this way. She thought Tennessee had plenty of space at one point. But considering the amount of growth Middle Tennessee has seen in recent years, she realized many of these landfills are running out of room.
Smith is afraid if one landfill fills up, there won’t be room for anything else.
So what can be done?
Smith says recycling is key to make landfills across the Midstate last a bit longer.
“We just keep building a mountain of trash and turning a blind eye that there is a statewide concern.”
Smith adds the state could find somewhere to build another landfill—which is difficult to do since no politician wants to vote on putting a trash site in someone’s backyard.
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