Wasatch Integrated Waste Management District serves Davis and Morgan Counties in Utah, including 15 cities. The administrative control board consists of 19 representatives, to represent each of the cities and counties. Wasatch has a long history of using waste as a resource, including operating a waste-to-energy facility for 30 years, a composting facility, a thrift store, and a material recovery facility (MRF). With Wasatch’s landfill nearing closure, Wasatch’s board and staff updated its 20-year solid waste management plan and implemented more solutions to divert, recycle, and reduce waste.

The updated plan is designed to extend landfill life, reducing transfer costs and improving the system’s environmental performance by improving landfill diversion through more robust recycling programs at the city level. Wasatch’s MRF opened in 2020 as a mixed-waste processing facility. After two years of operation, it was apparent that reliable markets would not developing for the organics and engineered fuel produced. Wasatch shifted to only processing single-stream recyclables through the MRF. 

With the implementation of strong policy by Wasatch’s board and help from member cities, Davis and Morgan counties are rolling out recycling programs and diverting more waste than ever before. Wasatch believes that diverting up to 30 percent of the residential waste stream through robust curbside recycling and green waste programs is attainable through effective infrastructure, policy, and education. Wasatch’s team designed recycling signage and other educational materials for new and established recycling programs to increase recycling participation. The session will cover Wasatch’s decision to build a MRF, operational setbacks and upgrades, and policy that is helping the transition of waste diversion and circularity goals.

About the Speakers

Preston Lee
Executive Director | Wasatch Integrated Waste Management District

Preston Lee has been working for Wasatch Integrated Waste Management District (WIWMD) for 23 years. He started as an environmental engineer and is now the executive director of WIWMD. Mr. Lee helped lead the creation of WIWMD’s composting facility and upgrades and implemented curbside green waste collection in some of WIWMD’s cities. Mr. Lee has also been involved in many other recycling efforts at WIWMD including the construction and upgrade of the MRF, metal, tire, and mattress recycling, and more. Sustainable, integrated waste management is very important to him. He takes pride in protecting the soil, ground water, and air as much as possible around WIWMD’s facilities through obtaining an environmentally sound landfill.

Collette West
Sustainability Specialist | Wasatch Integrated Waste Management District

Collette West holds a master’s degree in sustainability and has worked for WIWMD since January 2024. In her time at WIWMD, she supported six member entities with implementing universal recycling programs, developed WIWMD’s recycling signage and education webpage, and led a recycling education project connecting with over 80,000 households. Before WIWMD, she was the logistics manager for Wasatch Resource Recovery, a food waste anaerobic digester, where she implemented a new system to schedule incoming loads and led educational and outreach efforts to bring awareness to food waste solutions. Ms. West was also an adjunct instructor for Utah Valley University where she taught sustainability and the environment and human geography for the Earth Science Department.