MSW | Lake Region Solid Wa

Municipal Solid Waste

What is Municipal Solid Waste?

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage, refers to everyday items discarded by the public from households, schools, businesses, and institutions. MSW consists of both organic and inorganic materials, but typically does not include hazardous waste, industrial waste, or construction/demolition debris.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

Food wrappers and packaging
Disposable diapers
Broken household items
Non-recyclable plastics
Contaminated paper
Styrofoam
Furniture
Rubber, Lather & Textiles

Municipal solid waste does NOT include:

✗ Household Hazardous Waste (paint, pesticides, chemicals)

✗ Electronics (e-waste)

✗ Waste Tires

✗ Appliances containing refrigerants

✗ Medical waste

✗ Construction and demolition debris

**These materials require special handling or recycling programs.

Waste Management and Environment Impact

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) regulates municipal solid waste facilities to ensure they operate safely and comply with state and federal environmental standards. They administers permits to ensure all solid waste facilities are operated in a manner that protects human health and the environment.

KDHE - Bureau of Waste Management

KDHE - Solid Waste Programs

Kansas Waste Disposal Sites - Report with Maps

Kansas communities manage municipal solid waste through local collection systems, transfer stations, and permitted municipal solid waste landfills. Modern municipal solid waste landfills are carefully engineered with liners, leachate collection systems, groundwater monitoring, and landfill gas controls to protect human health and the environment.

MSW is managed through recycling, composting, combustion (waste-to-energy), and landfilling. Proper management of municipal solid waste benefits both the environment and our communities by:

Protecting groundwater and surface water
Reducing litter and illegal dumping
Conserving landfill space
Recovering recyclable materials for new products
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions through recycling and composting
Protecting public health by safely containing waste

Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) has set a goal of reducing waste disposed in landfills by 1% per year.

MSW Disposal in the Lake Region

Anderson, Franklin, Linn, Miami and Osage County operate Transfer Stations, where waste is accepted from municipal and private haulers, as well as individual county residents before being transfer out of the county for final disposal at a landfill. Coffey and Shawnee County are the only counties within the Lake Region that have a Subtitle D Municipal Solid Waste Landfill within their county.

Waste Management has been contracted to operated the Miami County's Transfer Station and the Rolling Meadows Recycling and Disposal Facility in Shawnee County.

All incoming loads are weighed at the scales. Operators are trained to sample loads and keep records, and may reject loads containing unauthorized waste. Landfill and Transfer Station fees are based on the type and weight of materials brought in and helps to pay for facility operations and equipment.

Specific details are available on each of the county pages: Anderson, Coffey, Franklin, Linn, Miami, Osage, and Shawnee.

Kansas Waste Statistics & Facts

The average Kansan generates over 3/4 of a ton of trash annually. In the Kansas City region alone, residents produce more than 7 pounds of trash per person, per day.
Roughly 33% of Kansas MSW is recycled. Over 170,000 tons of organic waste are turned into compost annually rather than going to landfills.
In SFY 2024, 5,951,737 pounds of Household Hazardous Waste were collected from 89,107 participants, an increase of 444,280 pounds from the previous year.
For every 1 ton of trash thrown away, about 70 tons of waste are generated upstream during product manufacturing and transportation.
While local data varies, typical municipal solid waste in the region consists largely of organic materials, including: Paper and Paperboard: ~31% Yard Trimmings & Food Scraps: ~26% Plastics: ~12% Metals: ~8% Rubber, Leather, and Textiles: ~8%

Municipal Solid Waste

Kansas Waste Statistics & Facts

The average Kansan generates over 3/4 of a ton of trash annually. In the Kansas City region alone, residents produce more than 7 pounds of trash per person, per day.

Roughly 33% of Kansas MSW is recycled. Over 170,000 tons of organic waste are turned into compost annually rather than going to landfills.

​In SFY 2024, 5,951,737 pounds of ​Household Hazardous Waste were collected from 89,107 participants, an increase of 444,280 pounds from the previous year.

For every 1 ton of trash thrown away, about 70 tons of waste are generated upstream during product manufacturing and transportation.

​While local data varies, typical municipal solid waste in the region consists largely of organic materials, including: Paper and Paperboard: ~31% Yard Trimmings & Food Scraps: ~26% Plastics: ~12% Metals: ~8% Rubber, Leather, and Textiles: ~8%

In SFY 2024, 5,951,737 pounds of Household Hazardous Waste were collected from 89,107 participants, an increase of 444,280 pounds from the previous year.

While local data varies, typical municipal solid waste in the region consists largely of organic materials, including: Paper and Paperboard: ~31% Yard Trimmings & Food Scraps: ~26% Plastics: ~12% Metals: ~8% Rubber, Leather, and Textiles: ~8%