The Santa Fe Solid Waste Management Agency (SFSWMA) was formed in 1995, under the terms of the New Mexico Joint Powers Agreements Act, NMSA 1978 Sections 11-1-1- through 11-1-7, by a Joint Powers Agreement executed by the City of Santa Fe and the County of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Agreement delegated the Agency the power to plan for, operate, construct, maintain, repair, replace or expand the Caja del Rio Landfill and ultimately the Buckman Road Recycling & Transfer Station (BuRRT).

Why SFSWMA?
The compelling cause for the creation of the Agency related to the implementation of new and more stringent environmental regulations of landfills.

These new rules effectively forced the closure of the City owned Paseo de Vista Landfill and the County owned Agua Fria Landfill. To develop two new landfill sites, one by the City and one by the County, would be tremendous economic burden on each party.
They therefore jointly pursued the development of the Agency and one landfill to serve the City and County.

Caja del Rio Landfill
The three parties, City, County and the Agency, each committed significant financial resources to the development of this new regional landfill. To site, permit and construct the Caja del Rio Landfill cost $18 million in 1996, with each party committing $6 million to the project. This cost included the acquisition of 640 acres of land, all structures at the Caja del Rio Landfill site as well as the construction of Cell #1 for disposal of solid waste.

Currently, the Caja del Rio Landfill recently opened Cell 4B for disposal capacity. Cell 4B cost the Agency $5.1 million dollars to develop (excavate and line) and should provide up to two years of disposal capacity.

BuRRT
In 2003 the City and County approved the expansion of SFSWMA services beyond the landfill. SFSWMA embarked on the development of a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) at the old City Transfer Station to provide critical recycling processing services to the City and County of Santa Fe as well as communities across northern New Mexico. SFSWMA took over the Transfer Station on January 1, 2006 under a 20 year lease from the City.
BuRRT is currently operating as the most advanced recycling facility in NM. The development of the MRF cost the agency approximately $3 million and has the capacity to serve the recycling needs of Santa Fe for many years to come. Check out the Virtual Tour page to experience recycling at BuRRT first hand.