Background
     In the early 1970's, Rockford's municipal "dump" at People's Avenue had run out of space. Known as "Mount Trashmore," the facility's closure presented the City with a crisis because it had nowhere else to put its garbage. The Winnebago Landfill Company responded to the challenge, and on July 17, 1972 Pagel's landfill opened for business.

     In the late 1980's history began to repeat itself. The City of Rockford had planned to site and operate its own landfill; Winnebago Landfill Company, therefore, proceeded with plans to close Pagel's Landfill in accordance with current regulations. After years of deliberation however, the City was unable to obtain local siting for a new landfill. Pagel's was set to close and there was very little room for more garbage. We responded in 1989 by committing to redesign and expand the existing operation to provide a long term integrated solid waste management plan for Winnebago County and the surrounding area. The Winnebago County Board passed the site application for this phase in 1990.

     Tough new state legislation and regulations had been adopted in the early 1990's making the planning and approval processes very complex. For example, the design and review process to ensure safe operations includes extensive site-specific studies including the use of computer models to analyze the groundwater flows at a facility.

     In 1993, after determining that the design and operational plan was safe, the IEPA granted Winnebago Landfill Company a 27-acre expansion permit. In 2004 the agency approved the development of Phase II of the south unit. This expansion adds approximately 1.5 million cubic yards of capacity while uniting the north (closed) and south (operating) units. After many years of providing a safe and integrated solid waste management operation to area communities, Winnebago Landfill Company is starting on the planning and approval process necessary to expand our existing operation. This will allow the Winnebago Landfill Company to continue to deliver an essential public service to our local communities for may years to come.

     In 2005, Pagel's Landfill underwent a name change. From now on the landfill will be known as Winnebago Landfill. Pagel was the name of the family from whom we bought the property for the original 1972 landfill. That was over 33 years ago. It is time to face the fact that we are no longer a small facility in a former quarry, nor have we been for quite some time, so Winnebago Landfill is now our new name.