St. Joseph landfill nets over 145 tons during latest Fall Clean Sweep event
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) -- City officials reported a successful and largely routine week of waste disposal for this year's Clean Sweep at the Sanitary Landfill, a big rebound for the facility after overcoming a year filled with capacity concerns.
Approximately 148 tons of waste were collected in this year's event from Oct. 1 to Oct. 7, including 64 appliances and 292 tires, according to St. Joseph Public Works and Transportation.
After the cancellation of this year's Spring Clean Sweep due to expedited landfill cell construction and waste capacity concerns -- a situation that has largely been resolved -- city officials were prepared for the possibility of a significant increase in waste.
“We really did think that we might get some more tonnage, but it was about average, about normal, just over 600 loads and around 150 tons," St. Joseph Deputy Director of Operations Keven Schneider said. "We didn't have any problems. I think everybody was glad to see it."
By comparison, the landfill received 150 tons of waste during the Fall Clean Sweep in 2024 and 139 tons in 2023. A total of 619 loads were delivered during the latest event, compared with 668 loads in 2024 and 613 in 2023.
"A lot of those vehicles coming to Clean Sweep are passenger vehicles, maybe pickups, and a few small trailers," he said.
Clean Sweep is designed to assist St. Joseph residents with maintaining their property, allowing them two full days -- either in the spring or fall -- to dispose of yard waste, trash, and appliances free of charge at the landfill. Residents are allowed to make multiple trips each of those two days.
The St. Joseph Sanitary Landfill is one of the few city-owned landfills operating in the state, with nearly all other facilities being privately owned.
"It's been pretty successful. It's good for the citizens and it's good overall because sometimes that stuff might end up somewhere it's not supposed to," Schneider said.
Beyond the event, Schneider said operations have been running smoothly at the landfill following new equipment purchases and the opening of cell 8 in July, a project that had to be expedited due to capacity concerns that threatened a potential soft closure.
City officials worked closely with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources in the wake of the situation that escalated last November, a problem caused by trash intake skyrocketing between 2019 and 2024, doubling from an average of 110,000 tons per year to upwards of 220,000 tons.
The situation was further compounded by cell construction delays and staff resources.
“We’re operating well now. We're getting a lot of traction and we're getting work on cell nine, so we'll have it ready in more than enough time,” Schneider said.
