Solid Waste Draft Report - The Town of Silver City

directly to the landfill. The SWSWA charges the Town of Silver City for disposing of the
trash brought to the landfill by residents under this policy.
For calendar year 2004 a total of 28,040 tons of waste were disposed at the landfill by all
the participating jurisdictions. Silver City accounted for 8,995 tons of this total or 32%.
Silver City’s disposed tonnage comes from the following sources (2004 figures):
• Sanitation Division residential routes: 2,971 tons
• Sanitation Division commercial routes: 3,321 tons
• Subtotal: 6,292 tons
• Self – hauling by residents: 2,213 tons
• Other Town operations (not Sanitation Division): 490 tons
• TOTAL: 8,995 tons
It is noted that some refuse from within the Town of Silver City is being hauled directly to
the landfill by business or institutional generators, contractors, and others who pay the
disposal costs themselves. However, the quantity of waste being handled in this manner
is unknown. The focus of this report is the Town’s Sanitation Division, which collects
6,292 tons per year (121 tons per month or 20 tons per day over the present 6 – day
work week). This amounts to 70 % of the disposed tonnage generated by the Town.
Since recycling services are provided by the SWSWA, not the Sanitation Division,
consideration of recycling was not part of the consultant’s scope of work.
3 – Observations and Analysis
Section 3 considers operational factors of the Town’s solid waste program including but
not limited to the following: refuse collection equipment types and condition; crew size;
refuse collection methods; collection frequency; number and size of routes.
3.1 Refuse Collection Machinery and Equipment
3.1.1 Existing Conditions
Six vehicles are used for refuse collection in Silver City, as follows:
• One (1) 1990 GMC 7000 Packer Rear Loader – 20 cubic yard capacity
Draft Solid Waste Report for Silver City, NM Page 8 of 32
Zia Consultants / Bell & Associates