Henry County seeks to lease tire shredding portion of landfill

The Henry County commissioners are now seeking requests for proposals for a private entity to lease the tire shredding operation at the landfill. The landfill currently accepts tires for disposal and shreds them so they can be used in a variety of ways. Pictured is a September 2016 project where tire shreds produced at the Henry County Landfill were used as an alternative to stone aggregate on a sewer line project at the Henry County Courthouse.

NAPOLEON — Citing labor concerns, the Henry County commissioners are seeking requests for proposals for a private entity to lease the tire shredding operation at the landfill.

In the summer of 2013, the Henry County Landfill closed and became an exempt transfer station, which can still accept waste from cars, pick-up trucks, dump trailers, grain trucks and small dump trucks for a fee. The landfill is part of the Henry County Solid Waste District, which also operates multiple recycling centers throughout the county. In addition, the landfill accepts tires for a fee and shreds them.

"We think, for the long-term, that to lease the tire shredding operation, from what we’re finding out about the recycling world, this is probably going to be a very good thing," said Henry County Commissioner Glenn Miller. "(The tires) will create revenue for us."

Miller and Henry County Commissioner Bob Hastedt said concerns over labor are a large reason why the commissioners are seeking proposals to lease the tire-shredding operation. However, they want to keep the service open as residents and businesses from multiple counties bring in tires for disposal, and Hastedt added they have been working with a consultant over the past six months to put together the package that is being put out for proposals.

"We feel it's important to keep it open," Miller said. "We’re servicing 16 counties on a regular basis.

"Henry County, of course, is over 20-some percent of the tires that come in," he continued.

Over the years, the landfill has sought multiple uses for the tire shreds, first using them as liners while it was still open. After the landfill itself was closed, other uses included using the shreds as alternative to stone aggregate for various projects, and they were also available for use by other entities, including the Defiance County Engineer's Office.

Due to regulations, the landfill can only store so many of the tires at one time, so there have been times shreds have been transported to other locations for disposal to ensure the facility stays within regulation. At that point, they have to pay transportation and disposal fees.

"We can make money with the tires as long as we don't have to haul them to a landfill in Michigan," Miller said. "But because of the labor issues, we feel the private sector could probably do a better job and leverage this better, and we have a steady income. Then we can concentrate on recycling, as well as the transfer station."

Miller added private entities will also likely have a better idea regarding the market for the tire shreds.

"These tire shreds could become valuable because they’d be cheaper than aggregate and there's a good supply of them," Hastedt said.

The proposals won't be opened until the end of August, according to Miller, so a decision on which entity to contract with won't likely be made until this fall.

Asked whether the commissioners would still set the prices for disposal of the tires, Miller said the commissioners would still have input and Hastedt noted those details will be determined in the negotiations of the final agreement.

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