Nov 15 - The Biggest Landfill in America

According to Waste News, Puente Hills Landfill, owned and operated by Los Angeles County received more waste than any other landfill in the United States in 2005. It won the same dubious honor in 2004 as well. Puente Hills received almost four million tons of waste in 2005, or approximately 10% of the state’s overall disposed waste. The next largest landfill in the country, Denver Arapahoe in Colorado, took in about 3 million tons of waste.

Puente Hills is scheduled to close in 2013. Los Angeles has arranged to have (at least some) of its waste rail-hauled to Mesquite landfill about 150 miles east of Los Angeles as Puente Hills fills up. There are also efforts to develop waste to energy technologies to reduce the amount of waste needing to be landfilled. It is doubtful that the 240,000 tons greenwaste currently used as Alternative Daily Cover at Puente Hills will be transported for use at Mesquite. This will result in the loss of "diversion" credit for local jurisdictions currently shipping their greenwaste to Puente (for use as ADC) unless they can find an alternative way to divert the material.