Tajiguas landfill filling up faster than anticipated, expansion plan proposed

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.- The Tajiguas landfill in Santa Barbara County is filling up faster than anticipated and an expansion plan is in the works.

The site along the Gaviota coast opened in 1967. Expansions were permitted in 1987 and 2002.

In 2017 the landfill had a modification to develop a ReSource Center that includes a Material Recovery Facility and other equipment to recover recyclable materials and extend the life of the landfill to 2036. A recent study of the rate of trash coming in shows the Tajiguas Landfill
currently has a minimum projected remaining site life of approximately two more years.

The county has approved a plan to expand the landfill while continuing to divert recyclables. It came after an extensive discussion about the flow of waste and the issues with efforts to reduce the amount of trash going into the landfill.

During the Alisal Fire in 2021 the ReSource center was damaged. Repairs there and nearby were about $20-million.

The Gaviota Coast Conservancy is also weighing in on the expansion plan saying it is working to close the facility, and an expansion would possibly damage sensitive habitats and endanger some species living in the area. Doug Kern with the Conservancy said, the area is , "where we are contaminating and polluting a beautiful resource and yet we have a societal problem  our trash needs to go somewhere."

At the Board of Supervisors hearing, some residents said the site has an odor and adding more trash would make the issues worse.

Santa Barbara County Supervisor Laura Capps said, "for those of us who are proud to be environmentalists,  we feel this rock and a hard place. The last thing I want  to do is expand a landfill."

The extension of Tajiguas will keep it open until 2038 to handle waste from most of Southern Santa Barbara County. (Carpinteria is served by E.J. Harrison ). The plan is use up another 14 acres of land.

Options other than bringing trash to Tajiguas include taking local waste to a facility in Santa Maria or another site in Los Angeles. Both options would add millions of dollars annually to the waste disposal budget.

Capps said, "I am in alignment with my colleagues that trucking it elsewhere does not make sense economically or environmentally, it's not something I can put my support behind."

The county did say Tajiguas has multiple layers of oversight and inspections.

This issue comes at a time when there's been years of public education about recycling. Santa Barbara County Supervisor Joan Hartmann said, "how do we reduce the waste that we are generating? How do we divert it from the landfill? That isn't isn't saying Public Works you do it,   it is saying  all of us  we do it. "

Some of the waste is increasing from the surge in mail order deliveries and also plastic packaging from stores to restaurants that are not recyclable.

Kern said, "we have so much single use plastic and  if you've been out to the the resource center  and you see the sorting machine all of the single use plastic film and it's  not recyclable."

Expect to see more public outreach to reduce our waste immediately and especially around Earth Day next month.

Hartmann said, "I think we can do a lot more there with non profit organizations with employers. Getting all of us engaged. Maybe there are incentive programs."