Lane County is planning to construct a materials recovery facility, called CleanLane, that will divert upwards of 65% of waste from going into the Short Mountain Landfill. This facility will improve recycling outcomes, reinvest those materials into the local economy, and it will reduce the environmental impacts from greenhouse gas emissions from the landfill. CleanLane will also prolong the life of Short Mountain Landfill, which reduces the need for future costly landfill expansions.

Short Mountain is the single largest individual source of greenhouse gas emissions within Lane County Government and the second largest point source in the county overall. CleanLane will divert organic waste from ending up in the landfill and route it to an anaerobic digester, which can capture the generated greenhouse gasses and use those for energy.

In short, this project will help Lane County meet its climate goals, keep disposal rates stable over the long run, and invest the short term, small rate increase in delivering environmental outcomes important to Lane County residents.

 

The Problem

Sanipac, owned by the national waste management giant Waste Connections, along with the Lane County Garbage and Recycling Association, have repeatedly used legal tools to delay and oppose the CleanLane facility. In Spring 2025, these entities won their case at the Oregon Land Use Board of appeals to deny CleanLane from being built in Goshen. While the area was zoned for recycling operations, opponents successfully argued that CleanLane was a waste operation and thus could not be sited in that zone.

Since then, Lane County has moved forward with siting CleanLane on the Short Mountain Landfill site. After getting approval, Sanipac and opponents are now appealing approval at this site to a Lane County Hearings Officer.

Sanipac and opponents are arguing that CleanLane is a recycling operation that will be owned and operated by a private company on public land, and it should not be allowed to operate near Short Mountain. 

The hypocrisy of this argument is laughable, and it deserves to be highlighted. 

 

Join the Hearing

There is a hearing on Thursday, August 6 at 9:30 a.m. You can attend the hearing in person or via Zoom.

Hearing Location: Miller Room, Lane County Customer Service Center, 3050 N Delta Hwy., Eugene, OR 97408

Click here to join via Zoom. The passcode is 096805.

You can submit written comment prior to or during the hearing to [email protected].