NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 1, 2026
CONTACT: Dana Kazel, Communications Manager
218-725-5049 (office) • 218-591-2219 (cell)
St. Louis County Landfill begins accepting trash from five-county region
The semis pulling garbage transfer trailers began lining up on Regional Landfill Road in Virginia before the gates even opened Wednesday at the St. Louis County Regional Landfill. The trucks were hauling garbage from the Duluth area as well as four neighboring counties.
As of July 1, the regional landfill is now the destination for garbage from Resource Renew, as well as Carlton, Lake, and Cook Counties, which had all been part of a Joint Powers Agreement to dispose of waste at the Moccasin Mike Landfill in Superior, Wisconsin, which is now closed. Meanwhile Koochiching County approved a separate agreement to begin using the regional landfill.
"Our landfill is now a true regional solid waste solution," said County Board Chair Mike Jugovich, who also serves on the county's Solid Waste Subcommittee. " We're doing things properly. We're doing things right, and we're doing things in an environmentally friendly manner. So this is another opportunity to show St. Louis County is a shining star for environmental stewardship."
Added Commissioner Ashley Grimm, who represents the western portion of Duluth, "Not only are we being economically responsible, we're also going to be building some of the best environmental protections in the state. We're really a model. So I'm excited that we're able to provide a practical solution to keep rates affordable but also to look long-term at how we treat our environment."
The Regional Landfill has been in operation since 1993, serving the St. Louis County Solid Waste Management Area, which includes more than 90% of the county geographically - all of the county except Duluth and surrounding communities that are within the boundaries of Resource Renew, previously known as the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District (WLSSD).
St. Louis County Environmental Services now expects to handle approximately double the volume of garbage as before. Even with the increased volume, the landfill is expected to remain operational long into the future. At the same time, the County is working to develop a new solid waste campus in Canyon.
St. Louis County has invested approximately $22 million in recent years - using a combination of state, federal and local funding sources - to construct a state-of-the-art leachate management system to contain and treat PFAS and other dangerous “forever chemicals”. The leachate treatment system should be fully operational in the fall of 2026. To learn more about the landfill and the work of St. Louis County Environmental Services Department, visit stlouiscountymn.gov/waste.
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 The first truck hauling trash from Resource Renew in Duluth arrives on the scale at the St. Louis County Landfill in Virginia
 Multiple trucks hauling waste from Resource Renew in Duluth deposit the garbage on the working face of the St. Louis County Landfill in Virginia as a landfill compactor crushes and moves the garbage into a cell.
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