Construction demo - landfill or just fill?

I have probably 800 lbs of home renovating waste that needs to be disposed. Its mostly broken plaster, plywood, 2x4s, etc. The paint has been tested and there is no lead. There is about 150 sq ft of linoleum that doesn't have asbestos.

Option 1 - Take it to the local landfill and pay $84 and then it will sit in the dump and leech any bad stuff it has into the ground.

Option 2 - Burn the wood parts and quickly release all that junk into the atmosphere, but it would take days to burn and lots of electricity to cut it up into manageable pieces. Plus I don't have an obvious place to burn it, and I'm unsure of the burning laws around here.

Option 3 - I need a some fill on my property. I could start the fill pile with this small load and cover it with about 10 yards of clean fill.

Thoughts?

On option 3, I'd want to be checking the local laws. You might not be able to do that at all, or it may require a permit and inspection...

I'll question your logic, too- in scenario 1, you are concerned about any nasty stuff leaching out, so in option 3 you intend to allow it to leach out above your well? Landfills are there for a reason. Use it for the stuff you can't reuse or burn in a fireplace.

If you bury it, the wood will eventually rot and the ground will sink in.

Austin is a pretty progressive city - I'd think they would have some means of recycling this sort of thing. Have you checked to see what options are available? Chances are the only thing for the plaster debris is to landfill it, but the wood scraps may be reusable. If there's a local Freecycle web page you could put the wood on there, or just put it out by the curb with a free sign to see if someone will pick it up.

$84 for ~1/2 ton??

That makes me happy to pay the $80/ton with a $45 minimum at the landfill here.

As for my opinion, take it to the dump and be done with it.
Spend how much time standing over a burn barrel and still have to take stuff to the dump???
If you bury it, at some point you or someone else is going to want to plant or build something there and then end up digging through rotten wood and linoleum.

The risk of someone building and digging there are rare. It will be immediately over the old septic tank. Put it this way, if they dig there to build and they're upset about a piece of half-rotted linoleum, they have some odd priorities.

The risk of leeching nasty stuff into my well is moot, because (as said above) if my septic tank isn't leeching into my well, a few pieces of old plywood won't put it over the edge.

My point is that I can go to the landfill and let it leech out there, put it on my property and let it leech out here, or burn it and release it all at once. Environmentally speaking, the leeching and burning are very similar impacts. That is a fixed issue. Burning it here will require the use of energy to reduce it to a manageable size. Taking it to the landfill requires the use of energy in the fuel to get there. Burying it here requires neither.

So, legal issues aside, the environmentally moral choice seems to be bury it here.

Streetwiseguy wrote: I'll question your logic, too- in scenario 1, you are concerned about any nasty stuff leaching out, so in option 3 you intend to allow it to leach out above your well? Landfills are there for a reason. Use it for the stuff you can't reuse or burn in a fireplace.

See my last post... The nasty stuff exists, so I'm not trying to prevent it from leeching out, I'm concerned about what to do with the stuff. Its going to leech out here, there, or go up in smoke regardless. I'm not debating the leeching, I'm basically debating whether or not I actually need to pay $84, tie down the load, drive it across the county...

... and I violently detest the idea of landfills. Their very existence perpetuates the use of those very things that we don't reuse or burn in a fireplace. I'm trying to be self-sufficient

Pay the money and let someone else worry about it. I wouldn't want a ton of junk rotting away on my property and if you in the future decide to do something in the area you'll be cursing the junk. Land fills use special construction and treat the runoff so it doesn't pollute the groundwater.

Hocrest wrote: $84 for ~1/2 ton?? That makes me happy to pay the $80/ton with a $45 minimum at the landfill here.

That's the bitch of it... $84 is what they charge per ton... its also their minimum.

how many trashcans are you allowed? if you are planning on letting it sit.. cut it up into trashcan sized chunks and slowly throw it out with the rest of your trash

rent a dumpster and let them haul it away

wow, its only $36 a ton here. i love the south

I've never paid a dime to take stuff to my local dump. I'm spoiled.

I'd take it to the dump. A landfill isn't just a simple hole where they buy your used baby diapers. There are multiple liners, methane control, and runoff treatment. In a modern landfill, things really don't leech out. I mean, they do leach out, but that runoff doesn't just go untreated.

I took all mine to the local county recycle site. Cost was ~zip~. If you bury wood, it's now termite bait and also will cause sinking later. I'd chunk it in the woodpile for later use as solid fuel heating. The plaster etc, bust it up and use it as fill.

good point on the termites. Those are one thing you do not want anywhere near your house

Our county landfill is free for personal waste, since I pay taxes for it. Landfills are designed for the waste that goes in. Subtitle D landfills receive municipal waste and are lined. C&D landfills are rarely lined.

Did you have the linoleum tested for asbestos?

curtis73 wrote: My point is that I can go to the landfill and let it leech out there, put it on my property and let it leech out here,

I can't speak for the landfill you would be using, but in general these days landfills have a pretty elaborate liner to contain any potential leachate. - they put in a thick layer of bentonite clay with a heavy synthetic liner, plus they have a series of monitoring wells to detect any leakage that may occur.

Having said that, from your description it doesn't sound like your construction waste has any particularly nasty stuff in it but I'd still find some way to get rid of the wood without burying it - it will just create a sinkhole when it rots.

spitfirebill wrote: Did you have the linoleum tested for asbestos?

Yes, and the paint tested for lead. Negative on both.

fasted58 wrote: rent a dumpster and let them haul it away

Cheapest one is a heck of a lot more expensive than $84.

mad_machine wrote: how many trashcans are you allowed? if you are planning on letting it sit.. cut it up into trashcan sized chunks and slowly throw it out with the rest of your trash

I'm allowed 1 trashcan, no more than 26 gallons total, everything must be in bags weighing no more than 25 lbs each and no more than 10 total bags. It would probably take about three years to get it all gone if I go that route.

Curmudgeon wrote: I'd chunk it in the woodpile for later use as solid fuel heating.

Not for me, man... I would never burn that crap inside (not that I have a fireplace anyway) and if I burn it outside its not the type of wood that you want to be around when it burns. Nails, linoleum glue, liquid nails, paint, stain, varnish.

Eew. With all that crap stuck to it I wouldn't want to burn it inside, either. Save it for fall/winter, when it gets cold have a party and use a 55 gallon drum for a 'burn barrel' for heat. That way at least you get some fun out of it.

Seems like a real conundrum! Wanting to be responsible, until it's going to cost you. Then you just want to bury it yourself. Pay the money and let the professionals deal with it. It's what they get paid to do. The landfill-as abhorrent as it is to you- is a much better option, no strike that, a much more responsible action- than burying it in your backyard. A landfill is engineered and professionally managed, that's why it costs. Your backyard isn't. Either you do the right thing or you do the cheap thing. It's your call.

Curmudgeon wrote: Eew. With all that crap stuck to it I wouldn't want to burn it inside, either. Save it for fall/winter, when it gets cold have a party and use a 55 gallon drum for a 'burn barrel' for heat. That way at least you get some fun out of it.

Haha... just remind the guests not to toast marshmallows on it

move to the country.. then you have the option of either just piling your junk up out in the field where you can't see it or burning it when the winds will blow it away from your house, then burying the leftovers.

landfill and be done with it. Being green is fine, but there is a limit.