City: Residents pay more for trash hauling as landfill space decreases

Last edited 1:46 p.m., April 2, 2025 [Editor's note: Additional information has been included.]

Springfieldians pay more for their curbside trash pickup than residents outside the city, even though the city of Springfield owns the Noble Hill Sanitary Landfill where most solid waste is dumped.

This was one of the highlights of a report on the city’s solid waste to Springfield City Council during its luncheon meeting yesterday. The report was given by Ashley Krug, market development coordinator for the city’s Solid Waste Division, and Erick Roberts, assistant director of the Springfield Department of Environmental Services.

Another key detail of their report was the shrinking life span of the 1,200-acre landfill, for which only 213 acres are approved for trash disposal. Waste volume has doubled in the last decade, according to Krug, who said 42% of the waste going into the landfill could have been recycled.

Residents of the Queen City pay an average of $25.80 per month for bundled trash and recycling service, Roberts reported, and that’s higher than the rate paid in surrounding communities for bundled service.

By comparison, other communities included in the presentation to council pay the following amounts monthly for bundled service:
• Nixa, $14.95
• Rogersville, $15.35
• Billings, $15.50
• Battlefield, $15.80
• Strafford, $16.35
• Joplin, $16.80
• Clever, $19.20
• Ozark, $20.04

The disparity raised the eyebrow of one council member.

“It would seem as though we offer a greater density of customers, which we would assume would drive down the cost of providing the service,” said Councilmember Brandon Jenson.

But Krug said the difference between Springfield and the outside communities is that most of those systems are operated through a franchise system, with one hauler serving the entire community, allowing for economy of scale.

Absent from Tuesday’s discussion was any suggestion of implementing a similar system in Springfield, with nearly 80% of survey respondents reporting that they are satisfied or very satisfied with their current provider – 17 of which operate in the city. Most area trash haulers use the Noble Hill Sanitary Landfill that is operated by the city of Springfield.

A city spokesperson confirmed to Springfield Business Journal by email that the city is not currently considering a single-hauler system.

“We have many haulers competing, and they all have varying costs that are unique to their organizations, and so that makes a really challenging cost proposition, when they’re all everywhere, all the time,” Krug said.

Jenson said he uses Republic Services and has bundled trash and recycling and pays more than $30 per month, and he was surprised to learn some people are paying only $15.

Study probes trends, attitudes
Krug and Roberts reported on two studies conducted by the city: the Citizen Solid Waste Satisfaction Survey and the Landfill Waste Characterization Study. The first gauged attitudes toward the city’s trash and recycling system and processes, while the second studied residential waste sent to the landfill by having staff sort 9,200 pounds of it into 40 categories.

The solid waste survey, conducted by Olathe, Kansas-based consultant ETC Institute at a cost of $29,675, was mailed to randomly selected Springfield residents in fall 2024 in an attempt to gauge their satisfaction with solid waste management in the city, according to the executive summary, which notes responses were received from 680 residents for a 95% level of confidence.

Highlights of the survey include the following:
• 76% of respondents receive trash service only at their home
• 18% receive bundled trash and recycling service at their home
• 6% do not have home trash or recycling service
• 79% are very satisfied or satisfied with their current trash provider
• 6% are dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with their current trash provider
• 62% are satisfied with the cost of trash and recycling services compared with the value it provides

The city’s curbside recycling rates are low compared to state and national averages, the presentation revealed.

Nationally, 43% of people use curbside recycling, and in Missouri, the rate is 30%. However, only 14% of Springfieldians use curbside recycling.

Asked why they do not, 34% of survey respondents said cost was a factor.

The survey also revealed most citizens are aware of the city’s solid waste facilities, including the landfill, recycling centers and household chemical collection service.

Some 68% of respondents were aware of the Noble Hill Sanitary Landfill, and 73% approved of its services.

Awareness trended high for the recycling centers, with 87% aware of the Lone Pine center, 61% aware of the Franklin Avenue center and 76% aware of the yard waste center. Another 52% were aware of the household chemical collection service.

Satisfaction was also high, with no recycling or collection center scoring below 80% in satisfaction level. The Lone Pine center scored a 91% approval rating, the Franklin Avenue center 90%, the yard waste center 89% and the chemical collection service 80%.

The Waste Wizard online tool, which debuted on the city’s website in 2021, lets city residents enter a waste product to see how and where to dispose of it. The tool measured low in awareness, with only 16% of residents knowing about it, but high in satisfaction, with an 83% approval rating by users.

Increasing volume
Klug said when she started with the city in 2013, it was taking in 650 tons of waste daily. In 2025, it takes in 1,200-1,400 tons daily.

“In a little over 10 years, we’ve nearly doubled the amount of waste that’s coming into our landfill,” she said.

What’s going into the landfill? That answer was calculated in the 2025 Landfill Waste Characterization Study, which was conducted by solid waste staff and led by consultant Burns & McDonnell, with locations in St. Louis and Kansas City. The study cost the city $71,100.

The study found Springfield’s household trash is dominated by organics, such as yard and food waste, comprising over one-fifth of the materials in the study, or 20.5%. This was followed by plastics at 19.3%, paper at 14.9% and cardboard at 10.1%

Krug emphasized that many of these materials could have been recycled instead of buried in the landfill – among them packaged food waste, plastics, latex paint and construction and demolition waste, which are being recycled in other districts, though the infrastructure for doing so does not exist in Springfield. Once material reaches the landfill, she noted, it is illegal to remove them.

“There are so many opportunities right now for new growth, especially in the recycling world,” she said.

She said those potential industries could thrive locally with the right investment.

“The reality is that for every one job that we have for burying trash, we could be creating nine jobs in recycling, and those are local jobs we could be bringing to our community,” she said.

There is a need for a comprehensive approach moving forward, she said, including infrastructure and public education.

Roberts said there are challenges in the current system, but Springfield doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel.

“We have a good, voter-approved integrated solid waste management system that’s been providing services in our community for several decades,” he said.

He outlined four next steps that his department is planning to take to respond to what the studies revealed.

The first step is to perform a recycling participation study on a much larger scale to try to determine what factors could increase participation and effectiveness while addressing cost, convenience and customer service – prioritized by residents in the survey. New city-operated drop-off sites will be explored.

The expansion of residential curbside recycling services will also be explored.

“We would like for this to be an iterative process with haulers,” he said, adding it could include contracts for communitywide services like additional curbside recycling or other ways of expanding offerings and participation. “The goal of this process would be to work with the haulers and the survey data to just simply see what’s possible.”

The second area of the study would be to explore opportunities to encourage local businesses and industries to use more recyclable materials in their processes and add recycled materials processing capacity to its system.

“Increasing the flow of these commodities and then having local end-user consumers and manufacturers not only provides those great economic and job opportunities … but it also opens the door for a cradle-to-grave or even cradle-to-cradle closed-loop system for these valuable materials, and it keeps those materials in the economy around them right here in our community,” he said.

He added that his department plans to work with its consultant on a rate study to evaluate possible adjustments and to review existing contracts and revenue generation.

“We would use this study to review the overall financial strategy in various functions and services that we’re providing within this system,” he said.

He noted the landfill is a critical regional asset for southwest Missouri.

“As landfills across the state continue to close, regulatory drivers continue to increase and demand for that landfill air space continues to increase, a strategic approach to an overall rate design for various city portions of the system will help conserve that valuable asset … and also promote sound, viable economic opportunities for the recycled materials in our region,” he said.

The third step planned is to explore dedicated funding for a dedicated cleanup crew or an annual contract to clean major routes through the city to improve quality of place.

“A clean, well-maintained city enhances economic development, it attracts businesses and residents and strengthens our community pride,” he said. “Investing in these efforts has long-term benefits from property values to public perception of Springfield as a place to live and work.”

The fourth step planned is a review of city code regarding solid waste management – Chapter 94 in the code.