Recycling programs dependent on economic rebound

The effects of the recession are far-reaching, City Manager Mike West said, as even the city’s recycling program is not generating the income it once was.

“The market for recyclables has fallen,” he said Friday. “I am not sure how much more of the mixed plastic and cans we can give away.”

Paper, West said, has fallen from a high of about $125 a ton to $6 or $8 a ton, thus the city is recouping very little money for its iRecycle program. The city launched a pilot project last year, targeting homes in all six districts, with the plan to evaluate the success of the program and decide whether to keep the program or expand it citywide.

“What you are seeing in recycling is what you are seeing in the rest of the economy,” West said. “A lot of markets are gone away. We are looking at options.”

The state is levying a new fee next year for landfills and the city has adjusted its commercial rates accordingly, but West said he hopes the state will step in and help create some markets for recyclables.

“Recycling is the right thing to do,” he said. “Every time we take a ton of paper or plastics and don’t put it in the landfill – we extend the life of the landfill.”

The city will revise a recycling report for city commissioners to reflect the decline in sales, and West will make a recommendation on the project’s future.

“We are looking at an option where it is totally volunteer … and it is now. The other option is picking it up every other week.”

Currently, for those approximately 2,000 households participating in curbside recycling, plastic, cans and paper are picked up on the same day as their household garbage. West said he hates to change that because people are accustomed to it.

The city is expected to decide the fate of the program in January.

“It is hard for us to collect more product if there is nowhere to take it to,” West said. “iRecycle has benefited the city. Right now the whole economy is hurting. I would love to extend this program.”

City officials have estimated that recycling could help extend the life of the city’s landfill by up to five to seven years.

On a related matter, West said there have been complaints from people who receive unsolicited advertising in their yards. He brought in an Avon book wrapped in a plastic bag which was retrieved from a Dothan resident’s yard.

“That is litter too,” he said. “A lot of people look at things like this as annoyances. Just like throwing paper out a car window, it is littering. There is a fine for that. And it does nothing to improve the appearance of our community.”

The city pays the Litter Bugs at Wiregrass Rehab Center $400,000 a year to pick up trash on major thoroughfares in the city.

“They do a good job,” West said, “but sometimes people put it out faster than they can pick it up.”