SUN PHOTO BY BRENDA BARBOSA, bbarbosa@sun-herald.com
Flocks of vultures, gulls and other birds swarm over the Charlotte County landfill on Zemel Road looking for food recently. According to Public Works Director Bob Halfhill, landfill operators compact trash six days a week, and cover the refuse with layers of dirt. Each night, a tarp is placed over the mound to keep trash from flying off and animals from burrowing through the garbage.

SUN PHOTO BY BRENDA BARBOSA
A GPS-guided garbage compactor with "steel teeth" traction crushes garbage at the county landfill on Zemel Road. According to county Solid Waste Operations Manager Richard Allen, the compactor is programmed to follow the engineering plans of the landfill, which will keep from causing a landslide. "When it's complete, it will sort of look like a wedding cake with tiers," Allen said.

SUN PHOTO BY BRENDA BARBOSA
Richard Allen, Charlotte County Solid Waste operations manager, shows off the state-of-the-art clean-energy generator that converts the methane gas of decomposing garbage into power at the Zemel Road landfill. In January, the facility was named "Project of the Year" by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency.

SUN PHOTO BY BRENDA BARBOSA
The county landfill on Zemel Road sits on 640 acres of land about 12 miles south of the city of Punta Gorda. The active area encompasses about 108 acres, and has garbage capacity through 2031, with the potential to expand beyond 2050, said county Public Works Director Bob Halfhill.

SUN PHOTO BY BRENDA BARBOSA
Roughly 27 gas wells pull air from the landfill down into an intricate gas-line system that then is converted to clean energy at the county-owned landfill on Zemel Road. A flare burns excess methane gas to control the smell from the decomposing material.