What is a transfer facility?
- Homes and businesses generate recyclables and waste that have to be picked up and hauled. The farther they’re hauled, the more it costs municipalities and taxpayers.
- Transfer facilities serve as a middle point where recyclables and waste are temporarily placed and transferred to larger trucks, then hauled to recycling centers or landfills for final processing or disposal.
- Transfer facilities help keep hauling costs lower, reduce wear and tear on roads and reduce vehicle emissions.
- A transfer facility is NOT a landfill.
What’s the benefit of having a transfer facility?
- Transfer facilities significantly reduce the maintenance cost to municipal hauling vehicles, saving municipalities and taxpayers money.
- When recyclables and waste are temporarily placed at transfer facilities, hauling trucks do not have to travel as far to recycling centers or landfills – in some cases this results in savings of up to 40 miles or more round-trip.
- The travel cost and fuel savings can be passed on to residents and businesses.
- Additionally, fewer miles traveled results in fewer vehicle emissions, lower fuel costs and less wear and tear on roads.
How will this new facility impact traffic?
- Traffic impact should be insignificant, with fewer than 10 truck trips per hour, and fewer than 80 total truck trips each day.
- All truck traffic is anticipated to occur between 5 a.m. and 6 p.m.
- Trucks will avoid main roads and neighborhoods and will use a proposed future industrial access road at 303 and El Mirage.
How will you control odor, birds and other vectors?
- This proposed, best in class facility utilizes the most advanced operation and technology in the industry.
- All recyclables and waste transferred from smaller hauling vehicles to larger trucks will occur INSIDE the enclosed facility.
- No recyclables or waste will be transferred outside the building.
- All recyclables and waste will be transferred out of the facility each day, reducing the potential for off-site odor and vectors.
- Inside the facility, dust and odor will be controlled with an automatic, overhead dust suppression and misting system to control the potential for off-site odor.
How is a transfer station different from a landfill?
- A transfer facility is used for TEMPORARY transfer of recyclables and waste while they are transferred from local garbage trucks onto larger tractor trailers that deliver consolidated material to recycling centers or landfills.
- Landfills are PERMANENT locations where waste is disposed and managed for decades afterwards.
How large is the planned transfer facility?
- The planned facility is about the size of a retail drug store.
What kinds of recyclable material and waste will this facility accept?
- The facility will be capable of accepting and sorting recyclable material such as plastics, paper and glass.
- This planned transfer facility will also accept municipal solid waste, construction and demolition waste and landscaping/green waste.
- It will NOT accept hazardous, radioactive or medical waste.
Where will the recyclable material and waste come from?
- Recyclables and waste transported to the transfer station are anticipated to originate from residents and businesses in the Northwest Valley.
Where will this transfer facility be located?
- The planned facility will be located in a future industrial park just to the south of the WestWing power substation in unincorporated Maricopa County.
When will the transfer facility operate?
- The majority of activity will typically occur between 5 a.m. and 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday.
Will the public be able to utilize the WestWing Transfer Station?
The public will have access to the WestWing facility during limited hours.