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Since You Asked: Plastic bags for leaf collection OK for landfills Dec 25, 2022 12:00 AM A A Rogue Disposal’s curbside leaf collection is a nice benefit for Medford homeowners. But I am wondering about the thousands of large plastic bags the service takes in. ... The environment suffers when these bags are left in the landfill. So what happens to all these leaf-filled plastic bags once they arrive for processing? — G.B., via email Once the bags come in and are emptied of their leaves, Rogue Disposal sends them to the landfill, according to Denise Barnes, Rogue Disposal and Recycling education and outreach coordinator. “They cause absolutely no environmental problem or damage at the landfill,” Barnes said. Barnes said the landfill is “the best place” for plastic bags because it saves them from winding up in places like Oregon’s waterways and potentially harming the environment. “Our landfill has a 100-plus-year capacity, and those leaf bags do not jeopardize that at all,” Barnes said. The curbside leaf collection program, active until Dec. 30, involves Rogue Disposal going around and collecting bagged leaves in the cities of Medford, Phoenix and Central Point — the entities with which the organization contracts. Rogue Disposal encourages anyone interested in collecting leaves for the program to put them in heavy-duty 33-gallon bags — though the load cannot exceed 40 pounds. Anything else, including branches and lawn clippings, must be discarded. Once the bags are filled, take them to the curb. “Then we’ll take care of the rest,” Rogue Disposal states in an online article. Barnes noted that the leaves collected from the program are “a great addition to our compost as well as the compost used in people’s own backyard.” Send questions to “Since You Asked,” Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; or by email to [email protected]