Materials Management - Closed Landfill Project

Prior to the 1980s, in most small towns in rural New England, all of the garbage from residents and local businesses went into the local landfill. Most of those landfills were simply large holes in the ground with no liner or any engineered safety features. Almost every town in the region had at least one of these landfills. Starting in the 1980s, states began to close these landfills and require all remaining landfills to comply with modern specifications. Today, there are over a thousand closed landfill sites throughout New England, many of which are owned by the municipality and now present ongoing liabilities and obligations.

NEWMOA’s launched a Promoting Stewardship of Closed Landfills Project in 2021 to help improve the management of closed solid waste landfills in small rural, low-income communities in northern New Hampshire and Vermont. The Project is supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The initiative is developing and disseminating locally-tailored guidance materials and checklists, holding training workshops and webinars, and conducting direct hands-on technical assistance for communities.