South Kent Recycling & Waste Center
Services Offered
- Facility Tours – Learn More & Book Online
- Trash disposal services for residential/business drop-off and curbside collection by licensed Waste Haulers
- Cardboard Only Recycling – There is currently no single-stream recycling drop-off at this location
- Electronics Recycling Drop-Off – See Disposal Fees
- Holiday String Light Recycling
- Appliance Recycling – More Information
- SafeChem / Household Hazardous Waste Disposal – SafeChem Accepted Materials & Hours
- Tire recycling – More Information
- Scrap metal recycling – More Information
- Compressed gas tank (propane, oxygen, helium, etc.) recycling – More Information
Disposal Fees
Cash, check, or credit card accepted. Additional 3% convenience fee added when using a credit card. Visa, MasterCard, and Discover only.
Residents utilizing recycling drop-off stations are not charged a service fee.
Kent County Department of Public Works reserves the right to accept or reject any waste at any of our facilities.
PFAS Treatment at Landfills in Kent County
Kent County Department of Public Works is a world-class leader in innovative waste management and is committed to protecting our air, land and Great Lakes. Kent County DPW is taking the initiative to protect public health through proactive waste management strategies to address long-term impacts of waste disposal on the environment. These include initiating infrastructure improvements that aim to avoid landfilling when possible and addressing the long-term challenges associated with landfills.
The Kent County DPW is committed to monitoring landfills and addressing per- & polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination at both active and closed landfills it is responsible for overseeing. Treating PFAS on site prevents these chemicals from leaving the landfill via surface or ground water.
Kent County works closely with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), federal regulators and engineering firms to monitor groundwater, drinking water from wells and liquid waste (leachate) from landfills it oversees where PFAS has been detected. At the closed North Kent Landfill, Kent County is proactively implementing treatment solutions to treat leachate in a way that exceeds standards and work is also beginning on both the closed Kentwood Landfill and the active South Kent Landfill to remove PFAS compounds prior to leachate being transported to a wastewater treatment facility.
Updates on the various PFAS treatment projects will be posted to our website, www.reimaginetrash.org. If you have questions about PFAS at Kent County DPW sites, please contact us.
Environmental Compliance Manager:
Adam Canute
Kent County Department of Public Works
Adam.Canute@kentcountymi.gov
(616) 632-7917
Additional facility-specific environmental monitoring information is listed in the ‘news’ section at https://www.reimaginetrash.org/facilities/kentwood-sparta-landfill/, if it is available.
About
The South Kent Recycling & Waste Center is home to the only open, active MSW landfill in Kent County as well as several recycling and waste diversion services. The landfill opened in October of 1982 and of the 352 acres of land reserved for landfill use at this location, there has been 150 acres used for landfilling. Municipal solid waste is brought to the landfill via residents or businesses that self-haul or by licensed waste haulers for disposal. Inert ash from the incineration process at our Waste to Energy facility is also brought to a separate section of the landfill.
Unlike a dump where trash could be washed away, blown away, leached into the bare soil, or open-burned, a landfill is specially engineered to keep the waste (or resources) that we toss “away” buried and enclosed for decades to come. It is composed of thick layers of plastic lining to prevent environmental contamination, miles of methane piping, a comprehensive leachate collection system, and a cap once the landfill is full. Until we live in a community where we all reduce, reuse, repair, repurpose, recycle, compost, and reimagine our waste, the landfill protects our residents’ and environment’s health by keeping waste from polluting our air, water, and land.
Location
10300 South Kent Dr.
Byron Center, MI 49315
Mailing Address
Kent County DPW
P.O. Box 2504
Grand Rapids, MI 49501
Phone
(616) 632-7920
Hours
| Mon-Fri: | 7:30am – 5:00pm |
| Sat: | 7:30am – 3:30pm |
| Sun: | Closed |
