Landfill Management Organization Award

Landfill tour

SWANA’s Landfill Management (LM) Technical Division Organization Award recognizes an organization that makes significant contributions to the industry and SWANA.

The call for entries for the 2020 award is now closed. The winner will be announced at the SOAR Conference in 2021. Stay tuned for the opening of the call for entries for 2021 in the Fall of 2020.

Scoring Criteria

The Landfill Management Technical Division has established the following scoring criteria by which landfill sites will be evaluated. Organize your application according to the nine main scoring sections listed below. The tenth section is used by the judges to evaluate the quality and presentation of the overall application.

The requested information and questions under each section need to be addressed or explained if they are not applicable to your site. (If addressed in another section, that must be so noted.) You may include other pertinent information that demonstrates how you site can be evaluated utilizing the point system outlined in this document. When including documents, you may reduce them in size to fit multiple documents on a page, as long as they are readable, and/or include a link to a website that contains the necessary back-up document(s); this may be done for any of the ten scoring sections below. However, except for Section 1, any link is to be used for supplying corroborating and verification of the information presented in the application, not for supplying information to address the requested information and questions. In other words, the evaluation of the submittal will be based on the actual application with links being checked to verify the statements made by the applicant. Failure to provide independent or sufficient confirmation or verification may result in a lesser score.

The Technical Division, at its sole option, may elect to send one or more members from its Awards Committee to visit an applicant's site to verify the information submitted; if so, a representative of the applicant shall escort the Committee member(s) around the site. Any such visit will be scheduled; however, it typically would be within 48 hours of the contact.

IMPORTANT: Read all directions carefully. Maximum number of pages is 16 if printed single spaced on an 8.5 x 11" page. Applications that are unreadable, exceed the maximum page limit or do not provide required information will be disqualified. At the sole option of the Landfill Management Technical Division, an award may NOT be awarded.

Executive Summary (150 words max) 5 Points

In addition to describing your landfill management program, explain why you are applying in this specific category and why you deserve to win an award.

OPTIONAL: In addition to the written executive summary, you may include a link to a video of no more than 90 seconds that tells the story of your landfill management program and its results.

Site Overview 5 Points

Describe your landfill site and its history. Provide information on area serviced, tons per day, how long the landfill has been operating, site capacity, and other site operations, e.g., yard waste materials composting and mulching, segregation of materials for re-use or recycling, household hazardous waste collection, residents’ acceptance or drop-off centers. Describe the landfill’s role in the local community’s integrated solid waste management plan and system. Include map(s) or diagram(s) as necessary. What makes your site unique or state-of-the-art? Why does your landfill site deserve an award?

Siting, Design and Construction 15 Points

What are the key elements of your facility design? What challenges did you incur in siting (e.g., site soils, hydrology/geology, access, buffer, adjacent and nearby land uses, etc.). What is its design (including solid waste capacity)? Describe site preparation, including construction techniques (e.g., MQC, CQC, CQA, leak detection surveys, etc.). How did you address challenges and obstacles? How does the landfill’s appearance fit in with the community? Emphasize what you have done that is “over and above” what is required by law or regulation to protect the environment and to be an exemplary site.

Equipment/Systems Innovation and Technologies 15 Points

What equipment (including leachate pumps, fueling stations, etc.) is innovative or state-of-the art? Have you had to replace any equipment; and if so, what prompted the replacement and how did you decide what new equipment to install? How has new equipment improved the operation of your landfill? Describe your maintenance schedule to ensure regular operation. Do you have a recovery plan for service interruptions due to equipment malfunctions, loss of electricity, weather or natural disasters? If so, describe the plan (including back-up equipment or redundant design) and how often the plan is updated. Include any charts and/or graphs as appropriate. Emphasize what you have in place that is “over and above” what is required by law or regulation in order to protect the environment and to be an exemplary site.

Environmental Controls and Monitoring 10 Points

What design features and controls (e.g., surface water, groundwater and leachate monitoring; leachate collection and treatment methods, air monitoring, odors, erosion and sediment controls, storm water discharges, landfill gas) are in place to ensure that the landfill provides sufficient environmental protection? Include photographs and schematics as necessary. How is the data evaluated and analyzed? What is the overall impact of the facility on human health, environmental quality and resource conservation? Emphasize what you have done that is “over and above” what is required by law or regulation in order to protect the environment and to be an exemplary site.

Planning and Operations 10 Points

What materials (including quantities) does your site accept? How are these materials handled? What methods do you use to analyze how well your landfill is performing in such areas as compaction, cover operations, gas system operation, and revenue, and what results are you obtaining from your analysis? How do you use these results for continuous improvement of your facility? Do your results meet or exceed the goals established in your planning process? What has been your most vexing or difficult operational issue or problem? How was that handled? Emphasize what you have done that is “over and above” what is required by law or regulation in order to protect the environment and to be an exemplary site.

Employee and Customer Safety 10 Points

How did you address safety issues in your planning and designing your facility, as well as in current practice? How often do you provide training to employees? What type of training do you provide? What is your injury rate, and what are you doing to improve it? If the public is allowed on site, how do you train them on safety procedures? Emphasize what you have done that is “over and above” what is required by law or regulation to be an exemplary site.

Public Acceptance, Appearance and Aesthetics 10 Points

What do you do to help keep the overall site appearance neat and clean? Describe community concerns (e.g., landscaping, dust control, control of windblown materials, screening, odor, traffic) and how you responded to them. What are your community outreach and engagement efforts? What is your customer service approach and how is it measured? What results have you achieved with your community relations programs? Have you received any awards? Which ones? Are there documented confirmation by the public of “accepting” your operation? Do you exceed community expectations? Emphasize what you have done that is “over and above” what is required by law or regulation to be an exemplary site.

Application Quality 5 Points

Your application will be judged on its organization and presentation, and on editorial and technical quality.

This is a judges’ category only, not to be addressed in your application.

Maximum 100 points