Daily Operations
Each operating day, trucks carrying waste arrive and are weighed on the facility’s digital scales. The trucks are then directed to the landfill’s working face (the active disposal area) where the waste is off-loaded and compacted by the landfill’s heavy-equipment operators. At the end of the day, it is covered with soils and/or approved alternate daily cover material.
During the active life of the landfill, a landfill gas collection system is installed and expanded as required. Once the gas is collected, it is piped to an on-site landfill gas-to-energy plant. The gas-to-energy plant will continue to operate for many years once the landfill is closed.
Landfill gas, a greenhouse gas, is generated through the decomposition of waste in landfills and offers a clean renewable energy source. Trail Ridge Landfill collects the gas through a network of gas extraction wells; currently there are 102 wells on-site. The collected gas is used to generate electricity, which is then delivered to JEA.
Closure/Post Closure
Each operating day that waste is delivered to the site it is methodically constructed until an area of the landfill reaches its final elevation. At that time the waste is covered with a layer of soil. A synthetic capping system is installed and then covered with a two-foot deep layer of “final cover” soil, which is sodded to prevent erosion. Upon closure of the landfill, there is a post closure period, which consists of thirty years of maintenance and monitoring required by the Department of Environmental Protection.