About the Monterey Regional Waste Management District

The award winning Monterey Regional Waste Management District is home to the Last Chance Mercantile
reuse store, Household Hazardous Waste Collection Facility, Public Drop-off Recycling Center, Material Recovery Facility, Landfill Gas Renewable Energy Power Plant, Small Planet School Education Garden,
and the Monterey Peninsula Landfill.

Our mission is to provide the highest quality, cost-efficient integrated waste management services to the greater Monterey Peninsula while preserving our environment and protecting public health through the reduction, reuse, recycling and safe disposal of our waste stream.

Facts About the Monterey Regional Waste Management District

Mission Statement

It is our mission to provide the highest quality, cost-efficient, integrated waste management services to the greater Monterey Peninsula, while preserving our environment and protecting the public health through the reduction, reuse, recycling, and safe disposal of our wastestream.

Role

The District’s primary purpose is to manage the Monterey Peninsula area’s solid wastestream. In recent years, the District’s role has expanded to include the recovery of recyclable materials in the wastestream, including cardboard, paper, glass, wood, yardwaste, plastics, metals, sheetrock, concrete, asphalt, reusable building materials, and resale items. The District is also the recipient of most of Monterey County’s sewage sludge. In addition, the first landfill gas-to-electrical energy system in Central California was installed at the site in 1983. More than 4,000 kW of continuous power is currently being generated. The District also accepts and safely recycles or manages household hazardous waste.

Service Area

District jurisdictional boundaries include the cities of Carmel-by-the-Sea, Del Rey Oaks, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Sand City, Seaside, and the unincorporated areas of Big Sur, Carmel Highlands, Carmel Valley, Castroville, Corral De Tierra, Laguna Seca, Moss Landing, Pebble Beach, San Benancio, and Toro Park. The District covers a total of 853 square miles. The population currently served is about 170,000.

District Facilities

The District’s facilities are located on its 475-acre property, 2 miles north of Marina, at the Monterey Regional Environmental Park, 14201 Del Monte Blvd. The property consists of a 315-acre permitted sanitary landfill site, a 126-acre buffer area (mostly Salinas River floodplain), 20 acres for the administration building, scalehouse, resale facility (Last Chance Mercantile), maintenance buildings, landfill gas power project, Materials Recovery Facility (MRF), household hazardous waste facility, and the one-mile site entrance road, Charlie Benson Lane. The mailing address is P.O. Box 1670, Marina, California 93933-1670. Telephone: (831) 384-5313. Fax: (831) 384-3567. Website: www.mrwmd.org.

Landfill Site Life

In accordance with the District's Landfill Site Master Plan (Vector 8/04), the proposed remaining site waste capacity is approximately 40 million tons, or 74 million cubic yards. The remaining site life assumes a maximum site elevation of 284 feet (above mean sea level), the use of alternate daily cover (ADC), and an airspace utilization density of 1,080 pounds per cubic yard. The use of tarps for landfill cover and the export of surplus fill sand create additional airspace and increase the waste capacity of the landfill. Based on the currently permitted waste capacity, and if the District continues to achieve the "AB939" State-mandated 50% recycling rate, the landfill will continue to serve the present service area through the year 2107.

Waste Disposal and Recycling

During FY 2004-2005, the Landfill & Recycling Facility received 369,389 tons of solid wastes, including 186,010 tons from the franchised garbage companies; 123,805 tons of commercial and industrial waste including 35,181 tons of dewatered sewage sludge; 59,575 tons of waste from small businesses and individuals who haul their own trash; and 5,087 tons of liquid waste. Of the total solid waste received at the site, 142,425 tons were recycled or diverted from the landfill. This represents a diversion rate of 39 percent.

Best Solid Waste System in North America - 1998
by Solid Waste Association of North America