Illinois Pegs Landfill Capacity Life at 23 Years

Illinois has 23 years of landfill life remaining, according to a new report by the state’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Landfill capacity grew by less than 1 percent in Illinois in 2011 from the previous year, according the Springfield-based agency’s news release. Illinois had more thanone billion gate cubic yards of landfill capacity in 45 landfills at the beginning of 2012. That reflects an increase of more than 2.8 million gate cubic yards from the year-ago period.

Illinois landfills accepted 46.2 million gate cubic yards of municipal waste in 2011. Of that amount, 6.1 million gate cubic yards were accepted at out-of-state landfills. That amount rose 2.3 percent from the previous year.

No landfills opened or closed during the year.