Solid Waste Plan Annual Update

Sedgwick County Solid Waste Management Plan Update

Submitted to Kansas Department of Health and Environment

June 2026

INTRODUCTION

K.S.A. 65-3405 requires the development of county solid waste management plans.  Sedgwick County’s annual review is due June 2026.  This report reflects solid waste data collected from facilities for calendar year 2025 and any other activities and policy decisions made since the last update.

DEMOGRAPHICS

Sedgwick County consists of 20 incorporated cities and 26 unincorporated townships.  Over 75% of the County’s population lives in Wichita.  U.S. Census Bureau data shows that Sedgwick County’s population in 2024 (the most recent data available) was 536,081.  Population is expected to grow 0.1% per year through year 2040, expanding to approximately 606,752 citizens.  Table 1 shows 2023 and 2024 census data (estimated) for Sedgwick County and the cities within Sedgwick County. The source for the information is U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division.

Table 1 - Population for Cities in Sedgwick County

SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

Sedgwick County’s Solid Waste Management Committee consists of 17 members, including 11 members that are required by state statute, one appointment by each of the five County Commissioners, and one member to be the non-voting chair of the committee.  Table 2 identifies the members of the Sedgwick County Solid Waste Management Committee and their associations.  There are currently two empty positions.  The committee meets as business items dictate. 

Table 2 - Sedgwick County Solid Waste Management Committee

MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE (MSW)

MSW Collection

The solid waste management system in Sedgwick County is private sector driven. Four businesses were licensed to haul non-hazardous waste in 2025. Table 3 lists these businesses.
Table 3 – Businesses licensed to haul non-hazardous waste

Four additional companies are permitted to collect MSW in 2026.

Sedgwick County requires all licensed haulers to provide information on the number of solid waste and recycling customers they provide service for, both commercial and residential.
Table 4 – Number of Commercial Solid Waste and Recycling Customers Reported by Hauler

Total Number of Solid Waste Customers: 9,165

Total Number of Recycling Customers: 1,457

Table 5 - Residential Solid Waste and Recycling Customers Reported by Hauler

Total Number of Trash Carts: 153,677
Total Number of Recycling Carts: 47,932

The Sedgwick County Appraiser’s Office currently lists 197,182 households in Sedgwick County. This does not include apartments. A comparison of this to the number of residential trash carts reported by solid waste haulers indicates that 43,505 households do not have trash collection. All households in the 14 cities with contracts for residential solid waste collection have curbside trash and recycling collection. The number of households in cities with contracts for residential solid waste collection is 24,115.

Residents in the unincorporated area can contract with a solid waste hauler, bury their trash, burn their trash in a burn barrel specified by the Sedgwick County Fire Department, or self-haul to a permitted disposal site. The number of households in the unincorporated area of the county is 15,257. Residents in cities without contracts can contract with a solid waste hauler or self-haul to a permitted disposal site. The number of households in the 5 cities of the Second and Third Class without contracts for residential solid waste collection is 11,393. It should be noted that Wichita Code requires “The occupant of each single-family dwelling shall arrange and pay directly, unless otherwise paid, for all of the residential trash produced on such premises to be collected by a solid waste collector at least once a week” (Sec. 7.08.030 – Residential Trash (b) Collection and Disposal). The number of households in Wichita is 145,904. Those households can contract directly with waste haulers.

Solid Waste Trends

County leaders support local communities’ efforts to reduce the cost and increase services for solid waste collection. Sedgwick County recognizes that cities should make their own decisions in regard to waste disposal. Sedgwick County does recognize the advantage of waste hauler contracts that will reduce road wear and tear, reduce air emissions, reduce disposal costs and increase services such as curbside recycling, volume-based trash rates and bulky waste collections.
Approximately 6.2% of the Sedgwick County population live in a city without a solid waste collection contract of some sort. 

Solid Waste Disposal

Waste Connections Wichita Transfer Station reported that 423,115 tons of solid waste was received at their facility during 2025. The Waste Connections South Transfer Station, which re-opened on September 2, 2025, received 31,320 tons of solid waste. The total of both facilities was 454,435 tons. This is a 14.8% increase from the previous year. This increase is partially due to the change of Section 24-30(b) of the Sedgwick County Solid Waste Code in which construction and demolition material is now accepted at any transfer station. The transfer stations received 9,970 tons of C&D material from September to December in 2025.

The MSW from the transfer stations was transferred to Plumb Thicket Landfill in Harper County for final disposal. The Plumb Thicket Landfill has a site life of 41 years at current volumes.

SOLID WASTE REDUCTION

Sedgwick County encourages citizens to recycle and reduce waste.

Residential Recycling in Sedgwick County

Tonnage reports for the materials shipped for recycling in 2025 were submitted by 2 material recovery facilities that receive our materials. Waste Connections Recycling Facility shipped 15,523 tons and PRo Kansas Recycling Center shipped 660 tons. The total reported by the facilities is 16,183 tons. This is 19.8% higher than in 2024. However, from 2022 to 2024, there had been a slight decline in the amount of materials recycled each year.

Drop-off Recycling

PRo Kansas Recycling accepts most types of plastic containers, plastic bags, mixed paper, metals, books, and glass.

Curbside Recycling

In Sedgwick County, single-stream curbside recycling collection is offered by all haulers. The collection is either provided by the individual haulers or contracted through a 2nd party hauler. Obtaining data on the number of residential customers using curbside recycling service is difficult due to the number of haulers in our area.

Reduction in Waste

Dillon’s Grocery Stores and the Kroger Company continue their efforts of moving towards EPA’s Zero Waste threshold of 90% through the Zero Hunger/Zero Waste Initiative. Local Dillon’s Stores are implementing source-reduction opportunities for the deli, bakery, dairy, produce and meat and seafood departments. Reducing the amounts of some items prepared in the deli and bakery that would be removed due to the shelf life, leads to less waste. Increasing food donations to the Kansas Food Bank and diverting food trim and waste to Quest, a local animal feed program, have all diverted tons of waste from landfills.

In 2025, the Sedgwick County Environmental Resources Department studied school food waste at two USD 259 schools. For those two schools, an average of 2 pounds per student per week of trash was generated in the cafeteria. The majority of that was estimated to be food, rather than packaging. One in 5 children in Kansas face hunger (from feedingamerica.org). According to a 2019 study by World Wildlife Fund (WWF), on average, schools produce 39.2 pounds of food waste per student per year. One strategy for reducing school food waste and reducing child hunger is the use of cafeteria share tables where surplus food can be distributed from students who don’t want it to students who do. Most schools in Wichita have share tables; however, a potential way to make share tables more effective is to incorporate a share fridge to keep unopened perishable items safe and fresh.

In December of 2025, the Sedgwick County Environmental Resources Department received a donation of 24 glass-door mini fridges from the Wichita Sustainability Integration Board. In collaboration with USD 259, these fridges will be distributed to 2 high schools, 3 middle schools, 2 K-8 schools, and 17 elementary schools in early 2026.

In 2025, ICT Food Rescue diverted 261,279 pounds of food from landfills, turning it into the equivalent of 217,733 meals for approximately 6,500 unduplicated adults and children in Wichita. These efforts saved their nonprofit partners an estimated $496,430. Their mission is to distribute unavoidable food surplus, sharing with the food insecure of Wichita. ICT Food Rescue volunteers will pick up donated food items from restaurants, grocers and catered events and transport the food to pantries, foster homes and recovery centers. With their new Upcycle Kitchen, fresh produce and other raw ingredients donated by urban farmers, restaurants and grocery stores will be used to prepare soups and casseroles that are oven-ready for their recipient organizations.

Composting in Sedgwick County

Brooks Construction and Demolition Landfill is open to the public and operates a compost site at their location at 4100 North West Street in Wichita, Kansas. They reported receiving 3,652 tons for composting. Air Capitol Eco Recycling at 302 West 53rd Street North is open to the public. They operate a compost site and a pallet refurbishing business. Air Capitol Eco Recycling reported receiving 2,125 tons for composting. The cities of Clearwater, Colwich, Derby, Haysville, Mount Hope, Sedgwick, and Valley Center maintain small brush piles and/or compost sites for their residents’ use.

Management of Grass Clippings

Residents are encouraged to mulch mow or compost their grass clippings. Grass clipping are accepted at numerous compost sites located throughout the county. These sites are listed under the compost section of this report.

MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS FOR SPECIFIC WASTES

Drug Drop Off

Sedgwick County residents can now easily dispose of unwanted or expired prescriptions, over-the-counter and controlled medications at designated drug drop off boxes without any questions asked or ID check. Environmental Resources has partnered with local law enforcement agencies to collect controlled substances through the MedSafe Medication Disposal System at the following locations:

Andale Police Department, 326 N. Main, Andale, Kansas (new in 2025) 
Bel Aire Police Department, 7651 E. Central Park Ave., Bel Aire, Kansas
Bentley Police Department, 150 S. Wichita St., Bentley, Kansas (New in 2025)
Cheney Police Department, 131 E. Main, Cheney, Kansas
Clearwater Police Department, 109 S. Lee, Clearwater, Kansas 
Garden Plain Police Department, 509 N. Main St., Garden Plain, Kansas (new in 2025)
Haysville Police Department, 200 W. Grand, Haysville, Kansas 
Kechi Police Department, 105 N. Sioux St., Kechi, Kansas 
Mulvane Police Department, 410 E. Main, Mulvane, Kansas
Park City Police Department, 1941 E. 61st St. N., Park City, Kansas (New in 2025)
Valley Center Police Department, 616 E. 5th St., Valley Center, Kansas

The amount of medications collected for disposal in 2025 was 64.45 pounds in Bel Aire, 24 pounds in Bentley, 57.8 pounds in Clearwater, 264.6 pounds in Haysville, 55.95 pounds in Kechi, 112.9 pounds at Mulvane, 103.05 pounds in Park City and 64.95 pounds at Valley Center for a total of 747.7 pounds.

Four sites in Sedgwick County collected old or unused pharmaceuticals from citizens by participating in the DEA National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day. The sites were at Sedgwick County Zoo, Sedgwick County Household Hazardous Waste facility, the Oaklawn Activity Center, Garden Plain Police Department, and Bel Aire Police Department.

Three Wichita Walgreens stores at 555 N. Maize Rd., 3150 S. Seneca, 3333 E. Central and one Derby Walgreens store located at 458 N. Baltimore, two Walmart pharmacies at 10600 W. 21st St. and 3030 N. Rock Rd., the CVS store at 10405 W. 13th, Professional Pharmacy at 744 N. Waco, Cheney Pharmacy in Cheney, and McConnell AFB at 7950 Leavenworth St. installed drug disposal kiosks for the same purpose.​

Household Hazardous Waste (HHW)

The Sedgwick County Household Hazardous Waste Facility is located at 801 Stillwell in Wichita, Kansas. A grand re-opening took place on August 22, 2025. The facility remained open during the expansion of the facility, however the Swap and Shop remained closed to the public until the re-opening date. In 2025, 16,278 participants brought 993,881 pounds of material (excluding solid waste) to the HHW Facility. 

Of the total brought to the HHW facility, 77,435 pounds were reclaimed by 3,386 Swap and Shop customers. Sedgwick County provided three remote collection events in 2025. These locations were Textron Beechcraft, Pathway Church in Goddard, and Spirit AeroSystems. The three events accounted for 983 vehicles serviced collecting 89,730 pounds of material. 

In 2025 the HHW facility recycled plastic containers that contained used oil and engine coolant, as well as metal from punctured aerosol cans and empty metal containers. 3,347 pounds of plastic and 11,525 pounds of metal were recycled. Also in 2025, 96,208 pounds of used motor oil, 17,558 pounds of antifreeze, 25,329 pounds of lead-acid batteries and 3,139 pounds of rechargeable batteries were recycled.

Conditionally Exempt Small Quantity Generators (CESQG))

In 2025, 292 conditionally exempt small quantity generators brought in 40,482 pounds of waste to the Sedgwick County Household Hazardous Waste Facility.

Construction & Demolition (C&D) Materials

Two Construction & Demolition Landfills in Sedgwick County accept C&D waste. Both facilities are open to the public.

During 2025, Brooks C & D Landfill received and buried 102,112 tons of waste and CDR - North received and buried 102,196 tons of waste. The total for all C & D waste buried in 2025 is 204,308 tons. This is a 2% increase from the amount reported the previous year.

Electronic Waste

A list of Sedgwick County businesses that accept electronics for recycling is accessible on the County’s website at http://Sedgwickcounty.org/environment/recyclingguide.asp . These locations are updated as needed on the County’s online recycling guide. Sedgwick County conducted an electronics collection event April 23 - 25 and April 30 – May 2, 2026 at the Sedgwick County Public Works West Yard. This event was free to all residents and businesses of Sedgwick County, Kansas. The event collected 381,420 pounds of e-waste from 3,963 vehicles.

Christmas Trees

From December 22, 2025 through January 23, 2026, Sedgwick County provided 21 sites throughout the County for residents to drop off Christmas trees. Residents were also invited to take free mulch home with them. The County collected and mulched 1,946 trees through this program. This is a decrease of 18% from 2025. In addition, some small cities in Sedgwick County also operate their own Christmas tree disposal program.

Special Cleanup Programs

Since 2002, Sedgwick County has paid for the disposal of 1,256 tons of illegally dumped waste collected by townships. The County will continue to pay the tipping fees at the transfer station for illegal dumping materials collected by townships.

The Department of Environmental Resources partnered with the Sedgwick County Department of Aging and the Metropolitan Area Building and Construction Department (MABCD) on special cleanups and to help hoarding cases and divert fines by providing free roll-off trash containers to 95 properties in 2025. Vouchers were given to 60 individuals to self-haul their items to the local trash transfer stations.

In 2025, residents of Payne Township had the opportunity to dispose of bulky waste at a township clean-up event. Roll-off containers were placed at the township facility where 27.4 tons of material was collected. Residents of Minneha Township had a clean-up opportunity where 5.09 tons of material were collected at this event.

From October 13 through December 31, 2025, Sedgwick County promoted a mattress coupon program. County residents could request a coupon that would pay for the disposal of up to 2 mattresses or box springs at Brooks construction and demolition landfill. The coupon is valid for 1 month from the time of receipt. 1,391 coupons were issued and 425 coupons were redeemed. 724 mattresses were disposed of by individuals.

Sedgwick County performed a mattress cleanup for the Oaklawn neighborhood on October 4, 2025, 117 mattresses were collected for disposal. Similar cleanups for Attica Township collected 20 mattresses and Riverside Township collected 17 mattresses.

Storm Debris

In 2015, Sedgwick County acquired a tub grinder and air curtain burner. When storms occur in Sedgwick County that result in significant tree damage and debris, citizens need some convenient way to get rid of all the tree limbs. Recognizing this problem, Sedgwick County operates an Industrial Tub Grinder and Air Curtain Burner to help communities across Sedgwick County with storm-debris damage. Not only does this provide an efficient way to deal with storm debris, but the tub grinder also provides the mulch product for citizens to use. The air curtain burner will reduce the particulate matter from the burning of clean wood waste. Twenty acres of land are set aside in northeast Sedgwick County for the collection of storm related material. However, this mobile equipment can be taken to other appropriate areas near the storm-generated material.

KDHE SOLID WASTE PERMITS

KDHE requires that any solid waste permit must first be approved by the local government as to its consistency with the local Solid Waste Management Plan. There are no solid waste permit applications in process in Sedgwick County from June 2025 to June 2026.

KDHE GRANT APPLICATIONS

KDHE requires that all grant applications come before the Solid Waste Management Committee. There were two grant applications from June 2025 to June 2026.

PUBLIC EDUCATION

Sedgwick County continues to make numerous efforts to inform and educate citizens and businesses about issues related to solid waste in Sedgwick County.  Staff interacted with the public at trade shows and numerous presentations.  Staff made ongoing updates to an online recycling guide.  The guide can be found at: http://Sedgwickcounty.org/environment/recyclingguide.asp.  Numerous promotional items and educational pieces were developed and distributed to the public.

SOLID WASTE FEE

On May 13, 2026, the Board of County Commissioners voted to adopt the Solid Waste Fee and approve the recommendations by an internal committee that reviewed the various uses for the properties, the volume of waste occurring from the different land uses, and which type of properties use the Sedgwick County Solid Waste Programs. The recommendations for the Solid Waste Fee are to retain the annual residential base rate per dwelling at $4.00. The fees for High Density Residential are $3.20 for each dwelling and $5.00 for High Density Residential with Additional Use for each dwelling. The Solid Waste Fee for commercial and Industrial parcels (including ag.) have five-tiered rates based on classification standards, and the majority of culture and recreation fees are moving from Tier 4 to Tier 1 based on a 2026 analysis of their waste characteristics. Tier 1 is $25.00 per parcel. Tier 2 is $60.00 per parcel. Tier 3 is $100.00 per parcel. Tier 4 is $200.00 per parcel. Tier 5 is $400.00 per parcel. Information on the Solid Waste Fee is available on the Solid Waste Fee page at www.sedgwickcounty.org/environment/changes/.