Waste Management Projects
Our goal is to protect frontline communities, push pragmatic solutions, and carefully manage the risks associated with waste management.
Beyond Toxics has worked around waste management industrial operations for over ten years, starting with the Reworld (formerly Covanta) incinerator in Brooks, Oregon. Our years of advocating for waste stream limitations, emissions controls, and a real-time air quality monitoring system for Reworld, led us to working with another community Coffin Butte Landfill.
The community at the incinerator was advocating for landfilling as a solution to their public health burdens while the community near Coffin Butte advocated for incineration as a solution to theirs. The fight for sustainable waste management, local public health, and a safe environment would not be able to go far if these communities were not aligned in a common cause.
Beyond Toxics brought these two groups together in order to work on solid waste management issues together.
Managing these risks are imperative. No community should be a sacrifice zone for the benefit of cheap disposal for other cities and counties. There are a wide range of solutions to these problems available, and as an organization, we believe in the need to pursue an array of them.
Solutions include:
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Reducing the production of toxic materials
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Increasing the recycling and reuse of materials destined for waste
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Managing the siting and regulations of large waste oriented industrial operations
Bcep Is Expanding To WECEP!
We’re expanding this work beyond the Bethel neighborhood to serve more West Eugene neighbors living near industrial areas. This May, we will provide energy efficient portable air conditioners and air purifiers to eligible households, ensuring vulnerable populations stay cool, healthy and safe in the summer heat and wildfire smoke.
You may be eligible to receive an air conditioner or air purifier if:
- Your home is within the green boundary of this map
- Someone in your household is at risk of heat-related illness
- You qualify for OHP, SNAP, or other government assistance
- You don’t already have air conditioning or an air purifier in your home
Interested to see if you qualify? Fill out this form and find out!
Our ultimate goal with BCEP was to support the community directly impacted by pollution from the former J.H. Baxter site, and make clean energy more accessible. This improves the overall health of our communities by creating safer living environments, reducing home energy costs, and lessening greenhouse gas emissions from outdated appliances.
Now, through WECEP, we are able to reach a greater number of people who are facing health risks from climate change. As smoke from wildfires continues to increase and temperatures climb higher each summer, it’s crucial that families are able to remain cool, comfortable, and breathing clean air.
Questions?
If you have questions, please reach out to Beyond Toxics Community Organizer Arjorie Arberry-Baribeault at [email protected] or (541) 543-2468.
Waste Management Projects
Coffin Butte Landfill
Coffin Butte is not a safe or pragmatic site for a landfill given the local geology, annual precipitation, and proximity to suburban and rural residential zoning.
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All landfills eventally leak, and Coffin Butte sits over highly fractal basalt, which means leaks can travel far and unpredictably.
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Coffin Butte is under DEQ and EPA investigation for repeated gas emissions regulatory violations.
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Leachate, the water that leaks from the landfill, is not adequately treated before being dumped back into the Willamette River.
Expansions to Coffin Butte Landfill have been rejected in the 90s, 2021, and now most recently by the Benton County Planning Commission in 2025. However, the Benton County Board of Comissioners approved the expansion after an appeal in late 2025. That approval is currently under appeal.
There are 14 years of capacity left in Coffin Butte landfill, and we will work to support a transition to more sustainable forms of waste management within that buffer.
Reworld (Covanta) Incinerator
The Reworld incinerator in Brooks Oregon stopped operations in January of 2025. Beyond Toxics worked with Clean Air Now, 350 Salem, PCUN, and other coalition partners to pass SB 488 in the 2023 legislative session. SB 488 required incinerator operators to install real time air quality monitoring equipment.
Why Is Waste Management A Focus Of Beyond Toxics?
Climate Change
Air Quality
Water Quality
Leachate can be thought of as garbage juice. As water travels through landfills or incineration ash, it accumulates all sorts of toxic materials along the way including heavy metals, solvents, and more.
Throughout the waste management process, water is introduced to garbage or waste byproducts, contaminating it with toxins found in the waste stream. In incinerators, water is introduced into leftover ash in order to cool the ash to manageable temperatures.
Additionally, ash from incinerators is frequently landfilled in ash monofills or in regular landfills mixed with other garbage, which results in another opportunity for leachate creation. In landfills, water is introduced to garbage, or ash, by precipitation or residual moisture from food waste and other materials.
Landfill operators are required to install a leachate collection system by placing pipes along the bottom of the landfill which is lined with a plastic membrane to prevent contact with soil and groundwater. Some landfills choose to add additional protections such as a clay layer.
When the membrane rips or tears from wear over time, leachate can contaminate the groundwater and soil forming a plume. In an ideal scenario, the liner catches the leachate and pumps it into a storage “bladder” or tank.
Most landfills send their leachate to municipal wastewater treatment facilities, where it is combined with city sewage. Sewage treatment facilities are not designed to treat the highly concentrated toxins present in leachate, and consequently many of the heavy metals and PFAS pass through the treatment plant.
