Friday, Feb. 13, 2009

Waning recycling markets could affect city program

The nosedive in global recycling markets could affect recycling in Olathe.

Exactly how is difficult to assertain as the economy worsens.

City officials are looking for ways to minimize the impact and cut the costs of Olathe’s recycling program.

They want to avoid raising fees and instead maintain the monthly $3.25 cost for curbside collection, which is voluntary, but collection methods could be changed to possibly expand the kinds of materials accepted.

The idea, solid waste manager Kent Seyfried said, is to recycle more materials at the currently lower prices in hopes of generating more sales revenue, which funds about 25 percent of the entire cost to provide recycling services, both curbside and drop-off, in Olathe.

But nothing is certain, Seyfried said, and the last thing he wants is for residents to stop recycling.

“It’s still important to recycle,” he said. “Don’t stop just because the value of the markets aren’t there anymore. We do want to divert from landfills.”

In 2008, Olathe collected just over 5 million pounds of recyclables and diverted 11,855 tons of yard waste.

It costs about $750,000 annually to operate the city’s recycling program. Roughly 32 percent, or 11,000, of Olathe’s 35,000 households participate.

Since October, the price for recyclable materials such as paper, plastic and metal has plunged about 85 percent overall. For example, a ton of cardboard that sold last year for $140 is now going for around $20.

“They aren’t making products from recycled material,” Seyfried said of the manufacturing industry. “The demand is down and there’s a surplus of supply. The decline in pricing affects a pretty good chunk out of our revenues here.”

Recycling markets traditionally fluctuated in earlier years, but had stabilized for the last four years until the fall. City spokesman Tim Danneberg called the downturn a “significant hit.”

“The money we make from selling the recycled goods is applied directly toward stabilizing our rates that we charge,” Danneberg said. “We’re in the process of determining what we can do differently so as to maintain the affordable rates we have now.

“It’s a nationwide problem right now and a balance of keeping (materials) out of landfills while making sure we’re doing it as (efficiently) as possible to make it not dramatically onerous on our rates.”

Deffenbaugh Industries Inc., which provides recycling and solid waste disposal services to several cities on both sides of the state line, recently told Kansas City, Mo., that the city’s recycling fees would be raised 27 percent.

As a result, Kansas City is considering cutting curbside recycling pickup times by half.

Olathe will be spared, though, from Deffenbaugh price increases, because the city owns and operates its own collection facilities: one at Kansas Avenue and Poplar Street in the Farmers’ Market parking lot, one at 13600 S. Alden St. in the northeast corner of the Wal-Mart parking lot; and one at Parker and Santa Fe, north of the pharmacy drive-thru in the Wal-Mart parking lot.

Here, unlike other cities, Olathe collects and sorts the materials before Deffenbaugh takes the goods, sells them and gives the city a cut of the profits, usually 10 or 15 percent.

Deffenbaugh spokesman Mike Clagett said the company is losing money on recycling.

“The tons are still moving,” Clagett said. “We are just not getting the value for the tons that we once did.”

The company is not hurting as badly as some other U.S. recycling companies, which have been forced to stockpile materials they cannot sell or not accept them anymore.

“Deffenbaugh is still accepting our material,” Seyfried said. “They haven’t told us they won’t take our stuff.”

The collapse of the global recycling market is due solely to the economy, Seyfried said. An increased surplus from citizens recycling more as they become more “environmentally conscious” hasn’t had an impact, he said.

“They’re just not making the products from the recycled materials,” he said. “The market will come back. I just hope we don’t have those fluctuations we had 10 years ago.”

The Star’s Karen Dillon and Finn Bullers contributed to this story.

How to recycle curbside-style in Olathe

The city provides residents with an 18-gallon blue recycling bin. Place recyclable materials in the bin and place the bin at the curb by 8 a.m. on your scheduled trash day. No need to sort.

Materials collected include mixed paper, including newspapers, magazines, catalogs, junk mail and office paper; plastic, including resins No. 1 through 7, which can include soft drink and water bottles, detergent and shampoo bottles, and milk jugs; clear, green or brown glass food or beverage bottles; and aluminum and tin food containers.

Unacceptable items include phone books, plastic toys, plastic containers containing motor oils or other household wastes, flat glass, aerosol cans and coat hangers.

For details, visit olatheks.org/OMS/Recycling/Curbside or call 971-9311.

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