SEATTLE (Recycling Monster): Officials in Lawrence, Kansas, on Tuesday approved the sale of the Hamm Sanitary Landfill and material recovery facility to a Republic Services subsidiary, following approval from Douglas County. Both votes were required due to existing collection and disposal contracts tied to the facilities.

The assets will be assumed by an Allied Waste Systems subsidiary owned by Republic Services, which declined to comment. Republic already operates service areas in eastern Kansas, including Kansas City and the Overland Park suburb, about 40 miles east of the landfill.

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Perry-based Hamm Cos., founded in 1954 and part of Summit Materials Group since 2009, has operated the landfill for decades. The site accepts municipal solid waste from Kansas and Missouri, along with construction and demolition debris and certain special waste streams from within Kansas. State permit data show the landfill handled 511,681 tons of waste in 2023.

Hamm also operates the Lawrence MRF, which began service in 2015 and can process up to 10 tons of single-stream recyclables per hour. In 2023, Hamm agreed to an EPA settlement, becoming the first landfill to use drones to monitor methane leaks nationally.