SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — State officials say existing Illinois landfills have capacity to take trash for another 21 years.

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency released its landfill report for 2014 on Wednesday. The report found that the state had 39 active landfills that took in more than 44 million gate cubic yards of waste during 2014. A gate cubic yard is the volume of waste entering the landfill’s gate.

The landfills reported that there were 942 million gate cubic yards of combined remaining capacity as of Jan. 1. The state EPA says that means landfill life expectancy in Illinois is 21 years based on 2014 disposal rates.

Illinois EPA director Lisa Bonnett says the agency reports landfill capacity every year “to aid local governments and private businesses in planning the safe management of waste.”

 

 

 

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