Dane County Department of Waste + Renewables

What Dane County Department of Waste + Renewables does

Dane County Department of Waste + Renewables is a county-government entity headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, responsible for operating Dane County's integrated municipal solid-waste system. The department manages the Rodefeld Landfill, a Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) plant that captures and converts landfill methane into a sellable commodity, the Clean Sweep household hazardous and electronic-waste program, a construction-and-demolition recycling facility, residential recycling programs, and Food Scrap Stops composting. Its stated mission is to provide environmentally sound, sustainable waste management and renewable-energy solutions for current and future Dane County residents, treating waste as a resource and conserving landfill airspace through diversion and recycling.

The department operates as an enterprise fund, meaning all operations are funded by fees charged for services rather than taxpayer dollars; excess revenue from RNG sales is directed to other county initiatives. Service delivery is conducted through physical facilities — landfill drop-off, recycling centers, Clean Sweep locations, and composting sites — with publicly posted rates and hours, supplemented by digital outreach (quarterly newsletter, facility tours, Trash Lab mobile education). The principal customer base comprises Dane County residents, local commercial businesses generating construction/demolition and hazardous waste, and the City of Madison as a co-development partner.

Strategically, the department is confronting a capacity inflection: the Rodefeld Landfill has less than five years of remaining airspace, and in 2022 the county entered a joint partnership with the City of Madison (Agreement #14742) to acquire a portion of the Yahara Hills Golf Course for a new sanitary landfill and Sustainability Campus — a planned business park co-locating reuse, repair, recycling, and research facilities to advance circular-economy objectives. With 14 employees, no disclosed revenue, and no AI or software-platform products, the entity is a lean public-sector operator whose value is anchored in physical-asset infrastructure, statutory franchise, and long-cycle capital planning rather than venture-scale growth.

Name

Dane County Department of Waste + Renewables

Legal name

Dane County Department of Waste + Renewables

Website

https://landfill.countyofdane.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Dane County Department of Waste + Renewables is a Wisconsin county-government enterprise fund that operates the county's landfill, RNG plant, Clean Sweep hazardous-waste program, C&D recycling, and organics composting, serving Dane County residents and local businesses through fee-based services rather than taxpayer funding.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Municipal Waste Management

NAICS

Solid Waste Landfill (562212), Hazardous Waste Treatment and Disposal (562211), Administration of Air and Water Resource and Solid Waste Management Programs (924110), Solid Waste Collection (562111)

SIC

Refuse Systems (4953), Cogeneration Services & Small Power Producers (4991), Hazardous Waste Management (4955)

akta.pro primary industry

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Landfill Disposal (BPALACAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Waste-to-Energy CHP (Municipal/Industrial Waste Incineration) (EUACAKAC), Universal Waste Management (Batteries, Lamps, Mercury Devices, Aerosols) (BPALAFAJ), Solid Waste & Recycling Services Administration (BPAIACAH), Landfill Operations & Disposal Services (IMAIAFAL)

Keywords

• Municipal waste management
• Sanitary landfill operations
• Renewable natural gas
• Hazardous waste disposal
• Construction demolition recycling

Headquarters

HQ city

Madison

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Infrastructure, Personnel, Others

Revenue model

1. Waste Management Service Fees: Operations funded entirely through fees charged for waste disposal and management services. Functions as an enterprise fund meaning no taxpayer dollars support operations.
2. Renewable Natural Gas Sales: Revenue generated from the sale of RNG produced from captured methane gas. Excess revenue is used to fund other county initiatives.

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Dane County Department of Waste + Renewables operates Dane County's integrated municipal solid waste management system, including sanitary landfill disposal, household hazardous and electronic waste collection (Clean Sweep), construction and demolition debris recycling, residential recycling programs, and food scrap composting (Food Scrap Stops). It also operates a Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) facility that captures methane from the landfill and converts it into sellable clean fuel, generating revenue that funds operations as an enterprise fund and supports other County initiatives.

Product overview

Dane County Department of Waste + Renewables operates as an enterprise fund managing the County's integrated waste management system. The department oversees multiple interconnected services including landfill operations, hazardous/electronic waste collection (Clean Sweep), construction & demolition recycling, renewable natural gas production, residential recycling programs, and food scrap composting. Revenue from landfill fees and RNG sales funds operations, with excess revenue supporting other County initiatives. The department is developing a Sustainability Campus that will co-locate a new landfill with sustainable business facilities, representing a shift toward circular economy principles for long-term waste management.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Clean Sweep: Hazardous and electronic waste disposal program
• Trash Lab
• Food Scrap Stops
• Sustainability Campus
• Renewable Natural Gas Plant

Products and services

• Landfill Operations Operation and management of Dane County's sanitary landfills for municipal solid waste disposal, including tipping floor services and scale operations for residents and commercial haulers.
• Clean Sweep (Hazardous & Electronic Waste) Collection and safe disposal of household hazardous waste, electronic waste, and mercury-containing devices to prevent environmental contamination, available to Dane County residents.
• Construction & Demolition Recycling Recycling facility processing construction and demolition materials to divert waste from landfills and promote circular-economy practices for commercial contractors and residents.
• Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) Plant Facility that captures methane gas from landfill operations and converts it into renewable natural gas for use as clean fuel, with revenue supporting other County initiatives.
• Residential Recycling Programs Comprehensive recycling programs for Dane County residents to divert materials from landfills and conserve natural resources.
• Food Scrap Stops / Compost Food scrap collection and composting programs to reduce food waste and create valuable soil amendments, paired with the Trash Lab educational initiative.

Quantifiable outcome

• Provides waste management services for Dane County residents and businesses

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• City of MadisoncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Joint partnership with City of Madison negotiated in 2022 for the purchase of a portion of the Yahara Hills Golf Course to site a new landfill and Sustainability Campus. Governed by Agreement #14742: Sustainability Campus and Landfill Development Agreement. Both parties jointly identified goals and developed measurable metrics for the project.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Casella Waste Systems: Northeast U.S. solid waste, recycling, and organics company with landfill gas-to-energy projects. Comparable as a regional broad incumbent combining landfill, recycling, organics, and renewable energy lines similar to Dane County's portfolio.
• Waste Connections: Large North American solid waste operator with landfill, recycling, and renewable natural gas investments. Comparable as a broad incumbent with overlapping landfill and RNG/circular economy strategies.
• Republic Services: Major U.S. solid waste company with landfill operations, recycling, and organics/renewable energy initiatives. Comparable as a broad incumbent offering the same integrated municipal solid waste, recycling, and sustainability services as Dane County's department.
• Waste Management, Inc. Largest North American solid waste company operating MSW landfills, recycling, and waste-to-energy/RNG assets. Comparable as a broad incumbent offering integrated waste management services overlapping with Dane County's landfill, recycling, C&D, and renewable energy operations, though at vastly larger scale and commercial scope.
• Recology: Employee-owned solid waste and recycling company operating collection, composting, and material recovery facilities. Comparable as an integrated incumbent with strong diversion/organics/composting focus overlapping Dane County's Food Scrap Stops and recycling programs.

Emerging players

• Vanguard Renewables: RNG developer producing renewable natural gas from agricultural and organic waste streams. Comparable as an emerging player focused specifically on the RNG-from-waste value chain that Dane County's RNG Plant operates within.
• Brightmark: Specialty waste-to-energy company developing RNG from dairy manure and organic waste. Comparable as an emerging player in the RNG-from-waste space that mirrors Dane County's methane-to-renewable-natural-gas pathway.

Others

• SCS Engineers: Environmental engineering firm specializing in landfill design, landfill gas-to-energy, and solid waste consulting. Comparable as an enabling services provider supporting landfill operations, gas collection systems, and RNG development like those operated by Dane County.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/waste-and-renewables

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Dane County Department of Waste + Renewables