Additional fee required

Salt River Landfill

The experience will begin with a tour of the Salt River Landfill, an enterprise of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, serving the cities of Mesa and Scottsdale, the Town of Gilbert, and the Salt River Pima-Maricopa and Fort McDowell Indian Communities. The Salt River Landfill aims to protect the environment from degradation, promote good public health, provide a source of employment opportunities, and conserve natural resources.

The facility covers 200 acres of land: 144 acres for landfill disposal and 66 acres for the material recovery facility (MRF); the facility’s administrative, maintenance and scale house buildings; stormwater drainage and retention; and landfill gas collection and flare station. The landfill site is projected to have capacity until 2035 based on the utilization of bioreactor technology.

Salt River Material Recovery Facility

Next, participants will visit the Salt River Material Recovery Facility. This 51,000 square foot facility services communities all over the East Valley including 530,000 homes (about 1.4 million residents) and 2,000 commercial customers. The state-of-the-art machine can process 40 tons per hour and the new artificial intelligence (AI) technology has brought recycling contamination levels to below 20%. These AI robots assist the sorting process alongside five additional optical sorts and the process finishes with the state-of-the-art baling equipment. Safety is the top priority at Republic Services and the facility is equipped with a fully integrated fire suppression rover system. Sustainability and environmental responsibility for surrounding communities are key pillars. We are honored to partner with our current municipal partners: Fountain Hills, Apache Junction, Chandler Mesa, Scottsdale, Gilbert, and Anthem to build a sustainable future for generations to come.

Snacks and drinks will be provided.

Dress code requirements: Casual wear (able to get dust and dirt on clothing), long pants, mask required (only for participants with respiratory concerns), and closed toe, flat bottom shoes (recommend safety shoes/boots).

Tour Schedule Outline:

• 8:30 AM: Check-in at the Phoenix Convention Center – South Building
• 9:00 AM – 9:30 AM: Transport to the Salt River Landfill & MRF
• 9:30 AM – 12:00 PM: Salt River Landfill and MRF tour
• 12:00 PM – 12:30 PM: Transport back to Phoenix Convention Center

If a tour capacity is reached you will have the option to be added to a waitlist. We will release people from the waitlist as/if space opens up, until Thursday, April 11. If you have not received notice of availability by that date it means the tour remains at capacity.

Maximum Capacity: 30 people
Minimum Capacity: 10 people * If this capacity is not met the experience will be cancelled and SWANA staff will notify those impacted.

Click here to add a tour to your current registration.
Click here to register for SOAR and a tour.