Landfills face increasing challenges both operationally and legally. In recent years, federal grants to support landfill methane reductions had been the norm, but the Washington climate mitigation fee proposal marks a new funding direction for these types of initiatives. An $825 million lawsuit over Chiquita Canyon’s closure shows how costly an elevated-temperature event can become for both the operator and the regulator. As the bar for minimum acceptable landfill performance rises, Miami-Dade is investing in a 13-year plan to divert waste away from landfills altogether.
The big picture
This Week in Waste
Waste Connections Posts Strong Q2, Sues LA County for $825M
Waste Connections raised its full-year 2026 guidance after second quarter revenue grew 6.4% to $2.56 billion, crediting improving recycled commodity values, fuel cost recovery and completed acquisitions. Management also flagged roughly $100 million in expected EBITDA improvement from maturing AI programs, even as solid waste volumes stayed soft on weaker construction activity. Out west, a Waste Connections subsidiary sued Los Angeles County, its water quality board, and named officials, seeking at least $825 million after the 2025 forced closure of Chiquita Canyon Landfill amid an ongoing underground elevated-temperature event. The complaint argues the landfill had no lawful path to keep operating once permitting actions cut off remaining airspace; the county’s own 2024 nuisance suit against the landfill’s owners remains active in parallel.
Key takeaway: Commodity markets and AI-driven efficiency gains are now offsetting volume softness for major haulers; elevated-temperature events are shifting from an operational hazard into a major legal and financial exposure for landfill owners and the counties that regulate them.
Sources: Waste Dive (Q2) ·
Recycling Today ·
Waste Dive (lawsuit)
Washington Proposes Fee to Fund Its Landfill Methane Program
Washington’s Department of Ecology proposed charging MSW landfill operators a fee to cover the cost of administering the state’s 2024 landfill methane emissions rules, citing a backlog in auditing labs. The fee would support the same gas collection and monitoring requirements the state has spent two years helping landfills implement through grant funding.
Key takeaway: Shifting from grant funding to operator fees moves the cost of methane compliance onto the landfills the rules were designed to constrain — a funding model other states may watch as their own oversight programs mature.
Sources: Waste Dive
Miami-Dade Unveils 13-Year Zero Waste Master Plan
Miami-Dade County, which generates more than 5 million tons of waste annually, released a Zero Waste Master Plan targeting 90% diversion from landfills by 2040. The 31-strategy plan includes a phased-in save-as-you-throw pricing model, new hauler reporting requirements broken out by garbage, recycling and organics, and eventual organics diversion mandates for commercial food businesses.
Key takeaway: The plan sequences infrastructure buildout before enforcement, building curbside recycling and organics capacity first, which offers a template other large counties may look to as they weigh similar mandates.
Sources: Waste Dive ·
Recycling Today
Tire Recycling Consolidates as Liberty Tire Expands Gulf Coast Footprint
Liberty Tire Recycling acquired three companies, All American Tire Recycling, Colt Tire Recycling and Genan Inc, to build what it calls the most comprehensive tire recycling network in the Gulf Coast region. The deal reflects a broader pattern across the industry this summer, as haulers and material recovery operators from Recology to Kinderhook Capital have pursued regional acquisitions to expand capacity and vertical integration.
From SWEEP: As material-specific recycling consolidates under fewer, larger operators, SWEEP’s blog What is SWEEP Certification and Why is it Important? explains why standardized, third-party certification becomes more important as an accountability check across a fragmenting ownership landscape.
Sources: Recycling Today ·
Waste Dive
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From an $825 million lawsuit over a landfill’s elevated-temperature event to a new fee funding methane oversight, a 13-year zero waste roadmap, and consolidation reshaping tire recycling, this week’s news shows landfills under growing pressure while capital flows toward the alternatives. A measurable, third-party standard is how that shift gets held to account. Join SWEEP and help set the standard for what good waste management actually looks like.
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