WM opens transfer station for Burning Man refuse

An estimated 70,000 people attended the Burning Man festival near Fernley, Nevada, in late August and early September, generating enough waste and recyclables to equate with a medium-sized city.

As a means of providing a disposal option, Houston-based Waste Management Inc. (WM) worked with festival organizers to make a nearby transfer station available, according to an online report prepared by Reno, Nevada television station KOLO.

A Waste Management spokesperson, Kendra Kostelecky, quoted by the TV station says most attendees “want to do the right thing” with their trash and recyclables.

However, in the absence of other options, many have traditionally dumped their trash in a commercial or retail bin somewhere between Fernley and where they live, causing a cost of disposal burden for the commercial bin owner.

In response to complaints about such actions, WM opened its Fernley Transfer Station from Saturday, Sept. 3 through Tuesday, Sept. 6 at 4:30 p.m.

Kostelecky told KOLO TV that festival organizers were “pushing the message” to divert discarded materials directly to the transfer station, although she also acknowledged it would be an out-of-the-way trip for many attendees.