SPECIAL REPORT: Waste-by-Rail
The State-of-the-Industry for Hauling Waste by Rail: Change is on The Horizon

ISSUE: Volume 13, Number 6, 2003

ABSTRACT:

With all of the advances in waste management in recent years, the idea of moving waste by rail or barge seems the inevitable choice of an efficiency seeking market. But somehow, despite all the excitement and discussion, moving waste by rail is still at best a niche operation.

What are the hurdles for this seemingly optimal solution? When will things begin to change? It seems that there are a number of complex issues that have all conspired to hinder wide adoption of waste by rail. Relatively poor public understanding seems to give local politicians plenty of fodder for grandstanding the issue. Complex contract arrangements must exist between generators, haulers and disposal site host communities for it to work. Current waste industry market conditions have not helped either.

SECTIONS:

-Numerous benefits
-Obstacles
-Market Prospects For Rail
-Higher Fixed Relative to Variable Costs
-Economies-of-Scale
-Greater Capital Expense
-Cost Discontinuities
-Political constraints
-When Will Things Begin To Change
-Where are programs working?
-Useful links

Related Story: Virginia DEQ Considers Container Requirements, Fees For Barge Hauling On James River

DATA:

Table: Existing Facilities With or Planning Rail Access
Figure: Map Depicting Waste Disposal Facilities With or Planning Rail Access
Table: Waste Disposal Facilities With or Planning Rail Access

Los Angeles Officials Could Ship Waste To San Diego County
Municipal solid waste generated by the city of Los Angeles is currently sent to the city's Sunshine Canyon landfill, but local officials are set on ending that practice and sending the waste to another location...

Several Ohio Landfills Seek Major Capacity Upgrades
The state of Ohio has relatively low dumping fees and considerable available capacity--a combination that consistently keeps it in the top five importing states in the nation...

Governor Blocks Plans To Route NYC Waste Through Jersey
New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey's administration has stopped talks with New York City about constructing a transfer station for the city's waste in Linden or another site on the New Jersey waterfront...

As C&D Waste Piles Up, Governments Take Different Paths To Recovery
For decades in America, construction and demolition waste was an afterthought-the detritus of progress, dumped in pits not even important enough to warrant environmental protection...

State Regulators Seek To Oversee Waste Train Proposals
Even as they try to oversee the flow of waste from Canada, Michigan regulators are trying to figure out how to oversee the process of rail-hauled waste from the East Coast...

The State-of-the-Industry for Hauling Waste by Rail: Change is on The Horizon
With all of the advances in waste management in recent years, the idea of moving waste by rail or barge seems the inevitable choice of an efficiency seeking market...

A Growing Trend in Interstate Waste Shipments
The growing trend in interstate shipment of waste illustrates the changing structure of the waste disposal industry...

Chartwell's 2002 Forecast
Solid Waste Digest forecasts a 2002 growth rate in national tipping fees of 2-3% as waste generation remains consistent and capacity declines...

Brea Landfill's Eventual Closure In 2013 Concerns San Diego County Officials
The planned closure of Brea's landfill in 2013 has left San Diego County officials scrambling for another location to dump the northern region's trash...

Court Ruling Deals Setback To L.A. Trash Disposal Plans
A federal court victory by environmentalists has dealt a setback to plans by Los Angeles County to dispose much of the area's waste by sending it by rail to an enormous landfill at an abandoned gold mine on the eastern edge of Imperial County...