Solid Waste Industry Creates Beneficial Uses of Closed Landfills

Waste Management Creates Elephant Preserve

When landfills close, communities can reclaim them and convert them into a variety of productive uses. Former landfills in many communities have wild life habitats, natural wetlands, community facilities and recreational areas like golf courses and bike parks. In Florida, a notable example of such a conversion is the National Elephant Center, a model for elephant care and conservation that being developed with the help and land of Waste Management.

''Elephants are among our most endangered animals in the world, and their future depends on innovative programs that integrate science, research, education and animal care expertise. The National Elephant Center will play a vital role in addressing the critical need for elephant population management and will be an international resource in elephant conservation,'' said Center Board President Mark C. Reed. ''Waste Management's support of the project will help provide a perfect home for our elephants and programs.''

The Center, located on 300 acres of Waste Management property in Okeechobee, Florida, will include open space for elephants to roam and explore while providing a variety of natural waterholes for wallowing. This site is adjacent to property Waste Management maintains as a Wildlife Habitat Council-certified natural area for threatened Florida Sandhill cranes and other species. About 900 acres of open space separate the Center from Waste Management's nearby sanitary landfill.

''When we look at our landfills, we see them as a form of recycling - beneficial reuse of the land at our sites,'' said Waste Management CEO David Steiner. ''We are proud of our ability to provide one of our landfill resources for a program that helps ensure the future of one of nature's most majestic creatures, elephants.''

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