The county has grappled with problems from its recycling program since at least 2014, thanks to a shifting market in global commodities. Recycling sunk the Weber County transfer station, digging a hole of debt hundreds of thousands of dollars deep. Last year, cities stopped sending their recycling to the county transfer station, opting instead to send the materials to Recycled Earth, an Ogden-based business.
Things looked good for a while. Then recycling took another nosedive when China, the biggest buyer of paper and plastic products, decided America’s recyclables are just too dirty. It’s banning certain types of post-consumer plastics and demanding strict cleanliness standards for the materials it will continue taking, standards that will be tough for many U.S. markets to meet.
The decision had ripple effects throughout the garbage world, including in Northern Utah. “Recycling is horrible right now, there’s no money in it,” said Mark Allen, mayor of Washington Terrace and head of the county’s Solid Waste Utility Subcommittee. “It’s not a great situation right now; hopefully things will change in a year.”
Allen helped broker a deal with Recycled Earth to have the county’s cities send their recyclables directly to Recycled Earth instead of sending them to the county transfer station. At first, Recycled Earth was taking those recyclables for free. Now, they’re renegotiating contracts.
“They are taking it now for basically the same price, cost, as they are taking for garbage at the transfer station. No one can take (recycling) for free anymore,” Allen said.
The consensus seems to be that residents won’t notice that impact on their utility bills for now. Washington Terrace won’t look at raising fees until they have budget discussions in June, Allen said.
Ogden City, which produces the bulk of the county’s recycling stream, plans to continue providing free recycling for residents.
“We do everything we can to minimize cost of operation so we don’t have to raise rates,” said Jay Lowder of Ogden City Public Services. “We try to absorb any unforeseen costs we have. This is just one of them.”
Recycling is important to Ogden residents, Lowder said, and if they have to send materials somewhere, they’re happy to support a local business like Recycled Earth. “They’re trying to do the best they can with the conditions they have,” Lowder said.
To read the full story, visit http://www.standard.net/Environment/2018/01/28/Global-shifts-in-recycling-market-creating-mess-in-Northern-Utah-Ogden.html.