The City of Minot Landfill receives about 82,000 tons a year of municipal material; a 100 TPD Phase Initial would send about 45% of it to manufacturing, at a fee above today's $51/ton gate rate and with the Circular Royalty™ paid back on every ton.

§0What This Means

• Ward County has two permitted MSW landfills. The City of Minot Landfill (owned and operated by the City of Minot, NDDEQ permit 0272) and McDaniel Landfill Inc in Sawyer (NDDEQ permit 0326). The City landfill is the regional hub: it reports receiving material from six counties.
• The feedstock is already in one place. The City landfill reports about 82,000 t/yr of municipal solid waste plus about 68,800 t/yr of inert material. Phase Initial (100 TPD, 36,500 t/yr) is about 45% of the municipal intake; Phase Medium (200 TPD, 73,000 t/yr) is about 89%. Neither phase depends on out-of-region volume.
• The fee is above the gate rate, and this study says so. The City's published MSW gate rate is $51/ton (effective 2025-01-01). The proposed Beneficiation Fee (TMC Fee) is $100/ton in Year 1, escalating 2.5%/yr — the bottom of the standard $100–$150/ton range. Carbotura claims no disposal saving. The case rests on the Circular Royalty™, no City or County capital, landfill airspace and a manufacturing destination for the material.
• Airspace is the asset being spent. Cell 7 was approved in January 2023 ($2.36M, roughly 5–7 years of capacity), and the City bought 320 acres in 2017 for $4M to extend site life by 60+ years. Every ton that transfers to manufacturing is a ton that does not consume cell airspace.
• No hard regulatory deadline. No closure order applies to the City landfill. The timing of a decision is the City's and the County's to choose.

§1Feedstock Profile

§1.1Capability Finding

§1.2Feedstock Volume Table

§1.3Primary ACM Feedstocks (Phase Initial Priority)

One stream carries Phase Initial: the municipal solid waste the City of Minot Landfill already receives.

• City-collected residential material. City Sanitation collects residential carts twice weekly (35, 65 and 95 gallon carts at $15, $17.50 and $20 per month). Those routes already end at the City landfill, so the stream is under the control of the same public owner that would sign a Circular Supply Agreement (CSA).
• Commercial and other municipal deliveries. The rest of the ~82,000 t/yr arrives from commercial haulers and the six-county service area. The residential / commercial split is not published; the Deployment Study characterizes it.
• Inert material (~68,800 t/yr). Not counted toward phase sizing; its suitability as feedstock is confirmed at the Deployment Study.

Phase Initial needs about 45% of the City landfill's reported municipal intake; no out-of-region volume is required. Phase Medium at about 89% leaves limited headroom, so it is a later step, when the County chooses, sized against measured tonnage.

§1.4Full Feedstock Capability Statement

All listed streams are confirmed processable by ACM. Every Conditional classification in the volume table reflects one of three barriers:

1. A third-party hauler or landfill operator agreement not yet in place
2. A separate agreement with another jurisdiction not yet executed
3. A logistic transport increment to be confirmed at Deployment Study

None reflects a technical capability limit.

§1.5UNFC Feedstock Resource Classification

This section is the formal "ore body audit" — the G-axis (Source Uncertainty) characterisation supporting the §5 Feedstock Opportunity sizing. Classification follows the United Nations Framework Classification for Resources (UNFC), Anthropogenic Resources category.

Proven Feedstock Reserve

0 TPD. No CSA executed. The Minot engagement is at intake — no signed contractual instrument exists yet.

Indicated Feedstock Resource

~100 TPD (36,500 TPY). Phase Initial, drawn from the City landfill's municipal intake. Status: ESTIMATED. Instrument formalisation expected at MOU stage with City of Minot and/or Ward County counterparties.

Inferred Feedstock Resource

~225 TPD (~82,000 TPY). The City of Minot Landfill's reported municipal intake from its six-county service area. Phase Medium (200 TPD) would use about 89% of it. Inert material (~68,800 TPY) is excluded.

Classification Summary Table

§2Logistics and Infrastructure

Collection. City Sanitation provides residential collection in Minot twice weekly. Routes converge on the City of Minot Landfill (4450 37th Ave SW), operated by the City's Public Works Department, Solid Waste Management Division. The landfill reports deliveries from six counties.

US-2 / US-52 corridor as logistics spine. US-2 (east-west), US-52 (northwest-southeast) and US-83 (north-south) meet at Minot. Material already converges on the City landfill from its service area; an ACM site on the corridor would align with those existing flows. Haul distances depend on the site, which is not yet identified.

Transfer infrastructure. Transfer and drop-off arrangements across the six-county service area are not reviewed in this study and are mapped at the Deployment Study.

Wider region. The Bismarck and Grand Forks municipal landfills lie outside Ward County. Partnerships with either are possible later additions under separate agreements; they are not sized in this study.

§3Cost Structure

§3.1Current System Cost Table

§3.2Operators (verified)

• City of Minot Public Works, Solid Waste Management Division — owns and operates the City of Minot Landfill (4450 37th Ave SW, NDDEQ permit 0272). City Sanitation provides residential collection twice weekly.
• McDaniel Landfill Inc — operates a permitted MSW landfill at Sawyer, Ward County (NDDEQ permit 0326). WM operates it and accepts municipal solid waste, construction and demolition debris and non-hazardous industrial material (WM facility listing, retrieved 2026-11-13). Its intake and rates are not published.
• Bismarck Landfill (2111 N 52nd St, NDDEQ permit 0017) and Grand Forks Landfill (5500 54th Ave N, NDDEQ permit 0347, municipal) — outside Ward County; possible later additions under separate agreements, unsized.

Operator verification source: NDDEQ active MSW landfill list; City of Minot Landfill (November 2026).

§3.3Capacity and Cost Trajectory

Three documented facts shape the forward picture at the City landfill:

1. Rate setting. The City sets its gate rates; the current published schedule took effect 2025-01-01. This study does not project an escalation rate.
2. Capital reinvestment. Cell 7 was approved in January 2023 at $2.36M, for roughly 5–7 years of capacity. The City bought 320 acres in 2017 for $4M to extend site life by 60+ years. Each new cell is a City capital project; tonnage sent to manufacturing slows the rate at which cells fill.
3. Two landfills in the county. The City of Minot Landfill and McDaniel Landfill Inc (Sawyer) are both permitted for MSW in Ward County.

§4Regulatory Baseline

Ward County operates under North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality (NDDEQ) jurisdiction. Solid waste management is governed by North Dakota Administrative Code (NDAC) 33.1-20 and North Dakota Century Code (NDCC) 23.1-08. North Dakota has no packaging extended producer responsibility law.

No active landfill closure orders identified for Ward County. The City of Minot Landfill holds NDDEQ permit 0272, with Cell 7 capacity and land purchased for expansion.

Regulatory points relevant to the decision

• Manufacturing classification (NAICS 31–33). Carbotura pursues manufacturing classification for ACM facilities; nothing in this engagement is contingent on it. North Dakota has no statute that classifies advanced recycling or manufacturing-feedstock conversion, and this study implies no state position on it.
• PFAS. NDDEQ monitors PFAS, including in landfill leachate since 2018. North Dakota has no state PFAS rule.
• Federal landfill rules. Any future federal PFAS or landfill-gas requirements would bear on the City landfill's operating costs; no specific rule or date is assumed here.

§5Feedstock Opportunity

§5.1System-Wide Addressable Volume Summary

• Reported municipal intake at the City of Minot Landfill: ~82,000 TPY (~225 TPD) — UNFC Inferred Resource
• Inert material: ~68,800 TPY — excluded from sizing
• Phase Initial: 100 TPD (36,500 TPY), about 45% of municipal intake
• Phase Medium: 200 TPD (73,000 TPY), about 89% of municipal intake — a later step, when the County chooses
• Bismarck or Grand Forks partnerships: possible later additions under separate agreements; unsized

§5.2Addressability Table

§5.3Phase Configuration Preview

• Phase Initial — 100 TPD. One CSA with the City of Minot / Ward County. Carbotura capital of $75M; no City or County capital. 12–24 months from permit issuance to commercial operation.
• Phase Medium — 200 TPD. A second ACM module ($55M; $130M Carbotura capital in total), a later step when the County chooses. At about 89% of reported intake it depends on measured tonnage.
• Later additions. Bismarck or Grand Forks partnerships are possible under separate agreements with distinct counterparties; they are not sized here.

§6Infrastructure Map

Permitted landfills and collection infrastructure in Ward County and the wider region. Use the filter bar to focus on specific facility types. Click any facility on the map or the right panel to highlight; selection is bidirectional.

Source: NDDEQ active MSW landfill list; City of Minot official site. McDaniel Landfill pin placed at Sawyer (approximate). Verification date: November 2026.

AEvidence Chain

Key figures and their public source verification.

BChange Factors

Five factors that would materially change the diagnostic findings in this Waste Study.

1. Measured intake differs from the reported figure. Direction: ↑ or ↓ Phase Medium headroom. Mechanism: Scale-house records that differ from the ~82,000 TPY reported figure change how much of the municipal stream Phase Medium would use.
2. City gate-rate change. Direction: ↑ or ↓ the gap between the gate rate and the Beneficiation Fee. Mechanism: A revised City rate schedule changes the per-ton comparison in §3; it does not change the Circular Royalty™ mechanics.
3. Federal PFAS rule promulgation. Direction: ↑ landfill operating cost. Mechanism: Treatment or monitoring requirements on landfill leachate would raise the City landfill's operating costs.
4. City of Minot Landfill capacity event. Direction: ↑ urgency. Mechanism: A change in Cell 7 fill rate or the timing of the next cell would bring the City's next capital decision forward.
5. Interest from other jurisdictions. Direction: ↑ later-addition opportunity. Mechanism: Interest from Bismarck, Grand Forks or adjacent counties could support later additions under separate agreements; none is sized here.

CSources and References

Population and demographics

• Minot Daily News, "Minot region's population holds steady," 2026-03-26 — minotdailynews.com

Operator and facility data

• City of Minot — Landfill — minotnd.gov/288/Landfill
• City of Minot — Landfill Rates (effective 2025-01-01) — minotnd.gov/691/Landfill-Rates
• City of Minot — Waste Carts & Roll-off Dumpsters — minotnd.gov/282
• NDDEQ — Active MSW landfills (permits 0272, 0326, 0017, 0347) — deq.nd.gov
• Vendor case study of the City landfill (post-2011; retrieved 2026-11-10) — intake and service-area figures, as reported

Regulatory framework

• North Dakota Administrative Code 33.1-20 — Solid Waste Management
• North Dakota Century Code 23.1-08 — Solid Waste Management and Land Protection
• NDDEQ — PFAS monitoring programme (including landfill leachate since 2018)

DAuthoritative Glossary

Full document-suite glossary. All terms remain consistent across Waste Study, Proposal, EIR, and Brief.

★Basis of Presentation