Gatlinburg Press Releases

    Did you know that up to 70 percent of everything you throw in the garbage in Gatlinburg does not wind up in a landfill?
It’s true.
    All the cardboard and paper as well as food waste and other bio-solids which go into the trash can are being composted, whereby a balance of heat, moisture and oxygen combined with natural microorganisms is attained which breaks down the organic material.
    With the May 2009 opening of the new $10.5 million Sevier Solid Waste, Inc., composting plant on Ridge Road, many of the challenges associated with the disposal of hundreds of thousands of tons of MSW (Municipal Solid Waste) are resolved. In fact, new technology, streamlined procedures and conscientious modifications incorporated into the design of the new facility are making the process of composting of municipal and residential refuse collected locally more effective than before.
    “This plant features the latest technology in solid waste disposal,” said City Manager Cindy Cameron Ogle. “It is so important that we reduce the amount of solid waste which must be put into the landfill. We envision that with further advances in technology, SSWI can improve this process and divert an even higher percentage of all garbage away from the landfill.”
    SSWI was formed in 1989 to service the rapidly expanding solid waste disposal needs of Sevier County, including Gatlinburg. MSW and sludge from Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Sevierville, Pittman Center and Sevier County is broken down by a composting technology developed by Bedminster, an Irish BioEnergy Technology Company which specializes in recovering high-quality, carbon-rich waste material normally disposed of in landfills.
    The original plant included three digesters and was built at a cost of $6.5 million. Its capacity was slowly increased to 325 tons of MSW per day plus sludge delivered from wastewater treatment plants in the county with the construction of additional digesters (a total of five). The facility was considered among the most efficient (65 to 75 percent of waste diverted from landfill) in the world when it burned on Memorial Day weekend, 2007, though the digesters were undamaged.
    Including two aeration buildings encompassing 140,000 square feet of area plus tipping floor and discharge buildings, the new four-building operation is once again up and running at full capacity.
    The bulk of the waste stream runs through a system of three-chamber rotary digesters, each of which can hold 75 tons of solid waste. Biodegradable material (paper, food waste and bio-solids) in the material is broken down by microorganisms thriving in a temperatures reaching 180 degrees Fahrenheit over a three-day period and turned into compost, much of which is sold and is safe for use on gardens and farms as a soil additive.
    During screening, the inorganic material which will not decompose is separated out and put into SSWI’s Class IV landfill. Meanwhile, the composted digester material (about 60 percent of the original waste stream) is screened and moved to the aeration floor where it is periodically turned and continues composting for an additional four weeks.