Montgomery County Council members face a momentous trash management decision as they prepare to vote on County Executive Marc Elrich’s push to close the county’s resource recovery facility and export 600,000 tons of trash annually to an out-of-state landfill, according to reporting by News from the States.
The impending vote has triggered sharp warnings from environmental groups and municipal leaders. Nature Forward, the League of Women Voters of Montgomery County, and the City of Gaithersburg argue that landfilling the county’s waste carries far worse environmental, public health, cost, and environmental justice impacts than continuing to operate the resource recovery facility, known as the RRF.
Weighing Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Energy Realities
Waste hierarchies in both the United States and the European Union explicitly rank landfilling as the worst possible waste management option. Green countries across Europe, including Denmark, Sweden, and Germany, have rejected landfilling in favor of RRFs. Similarly, Arlington County and the City of Alexandria in Virginia maintain that their own RRF represents the most environmentally sustainable method of waste disposal following reduction, reuse, and recycling.
Data from Montgomery County’s most recent greenhouse gas inventory reveals that landfilling county waste produces nearly twice as much greenhouse gas emissions per ton as operating the RRF. That finding mirrors broader scientific research. Fairfax County, Virginia, determined that landfilling its trash would generate six times more greenhouse gases than utilizing its own RRF.
If the Montgomery County facility closes, the electricity it currently generates would be replaced by fossil fuel-powered electricity. Landfills produce methane—an explosive greenhouse gas that contributes to ambient ozone, harms public health, and causes crop losses. While reducing methane emissions stands as a critical tool for slowing global warming, landfill gas collection systems remain notoriously leaky and inefficient at capturing methane and toxic air pollutants. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency notes that numerous landfill operators routinely violate their gas collection requirements.
Local Air Quality, Toxic Risks, and Out-of-State Burdens
Proponents of maintaining the RRF point out that county studies show the facility exerts no measurable influence on local air quality. Recent research even suggests that RRFs may destroy PFAS, commonly known as “forever chemicals.” When air emissions at the Montgomery facility exceeded allowable limits in 2025, officials identified, publicly disclosed, and resolved the incidents. Subsequent county analysis indicated those exceedances posed very low health risks, sitting 20 to 300 times below target levels.
By contrast, landfills continuously emit toxic gases, including known carcinogens like benzene and vinyl chloride, alongside hundreds of thousands of gallons of polluted liquid weekly. According to the Environmental Defense Fund, Virginia and Pennsylvania rank among the states with the highest volume of landfills violating federal environmental standards. One specific Virginia landfill previously considered for Montgomery County’s waste has already closed, filed for bankruptcy, and requires an estimated $173 million for cleanup—costs that Montgomery County could not legally compel an out-of-state operator to cover.
Trucking millions of tons of waste across state lines also guarantees a surge in carcinogenic diesel exhaust. A 2025 county study confirmed that the Derwood trash transfer station already suffers from elevated levels of diesel fumes.
Financial Stability Versus Unpredictable Landfill Costs
Upgrading the RRF demands significant capital investment, particularly because council members note that the county executive has deferred necessary maintenance. Even so, county figures indicate that utilizing the RRF remains either far cheaper than landfilling or roughly equivalent in cost. The facility’s operating expenses stay predictable and are partially offset by electricity sales and the recovery of valuable recyclable metals. Arlington County and the City of Alexandria successfully lease their RRF to Reworld under a financially advantageous structure.
Landfilling, meanwhile, strips the county of cost control. Those tipping fees are inherently unpredictable and bound to climb alongside inflation and projected waste stream increases. While the county executive promotes an “advanced waste processing” facility as a cheaper alternative, detailed plans regarding its cost, feasibility, location, or tangible benefits remain unavailable, and no comparable facility currently operates at the scale Montgomery County requires.
Guiding principles established in the European Union and Japan mandate that waste must be disposed of close to its point of origin. Exporting Montgomery County’s trash directly violates this proximity principle while displacing local pollution onto vulnerable populations. While the RRF sits in an affluent, disproportionately white area, every landfill examined in the county’s 2025 study carries environmental justice strikes. The county must also address the 150,000 tons of ash produced annually by the RRF, which currently travels to a mixed waste landfill near a low-income, minority community in Henrico County, Virginia. An ash monofill in Fairfax County demonstrates lower environmental justice vulnerability and offers superior protection against soil and groundwater contamination, though exploring ash reuse remains a viable path forward.
