The company behind a local landfill wants the county’s help in exploring its options for expanding its business in Mower County.

Leaders of SKB Environmental asked the county board Tuesday to look into creating an ordinance to govern landfills and even offered to reimburse the county for staffing time as the company looks to address the future of recently acquired property.

“We are evaluating some options for that land,” said John Domke, SKB’s regional vice president.

SKB, a subsidiary of Waste Connections, operates a 40-acre demolition landfill at 52653 243rd St. in rural Austin and Lansing Township. The company purchased an additional 50 acres to the west of its current location and is exploring options for future developments, especially for integrated waste management techniques — a method where landfills take a type of waste, repurpose or recycle a type of it, and then dispose of the rest.

“It’s not just burying waste; it’s how do you bury the least amount of waste as possible,” Domke said. “It’s recycling; it’s reusing; it’s reduction.”

SKB leaders maintain they’re exploring their options and don’t have a specific project or purpose in mind.

If the company was moving ahead on a specific project, it would seek a conditional use permit through the county.

By creating an ordinance, the county would be foregoing the conditional use permit process for landfills and replace it with a set of guidelines businesses would have to meet.

SKB and nearby landfill Veit Solid Waste Facility are both demolition landfills. While the two do similar work, Knish noted they operate under different rules with the county based on separate, board-approved conditional use permits. An ordinance change would set the rules ahead of time and make them more uniform.

“It’s just a different process than what the county is currently doing,” Environmental Services Director Angie Knish said.

SKB asked the county to allow Knish to look into the issue, which could take her away from other duties like feedlot permits.

“It’s basically giving us the ability to continue working with Angie,” Domke said.

To devote more time to studying and exploring the issues, Knish said she’d need guidance from the board on how to move forward.

The board tabled the issue until August, stating more information is needed.

“I don’t feel like I can do anything today as far as approving anything,” Commissioner Jerry Reinartz said, noting it’s a discussion that required a full board, and Commissioner Mike Ankeny was absent.

Commissioners Polly Glynn and Tim Gabrielson agreed.

“We need to have more information,” Glynn said.

If the board opts for an ordinance, Knish stressed the county must be thorough so it knows what it’s getting into.

“It would open opportunities for many things,” she said.

Knish admitted there are several “What ifs?” involved that would need to be addressed if the county moves forward.

“It has the potential to bring in different types of waste,” she said.

While Domke wouldn’t outline specific plans, he said SKB’s integrated waste management could be something of a one-stop shop for recycling and even mentioned single-sort recycling.

Though the county is discussing a change from separated to single-sort recycling, county leaders said SKB and the recycling change are unrelated issues.

Domke said there’s no way for commercial haulers to recycle in Mower County, and he could foresee SKB providing ways to recycle things like pallets and cardboard.

Knish described integrated recycling as a new concept in the state to turn a profit on products that have value.

“[It] would be something where you try to skim off those products that have future purpose or could be recycled off and you have to deal with the rest,” she said.