Mayor Jim Kenney and others from the Streets Department announced Wednesday morning that the Philadelphia has come to terms on a new contract allowing the city to return to full capacity recycling. Waste Management will remain the provider, receiving a new rate of $90 to $100 per ton of recyclables. That’s way more than the city was paying even last year, but at least it’s less than what the city is currently paying to not even recycle everything. Needless to say, the current situation wasn’t sustainable.

How much will the city be spending annually on recycling now with its new contract? The Streets Department estimates it will collect 112,000 tons of recycling in fiscal year 2019, and even if we take the more conservative price of $90 per ton, that still adds up to a hit to the city budget of more than $10 million. As recently as 2014, the city made $2 million on recycling, which goes to show you how quickly the market for recyclables can change.

To accompany the new contract announcement, the Streets Department is embarking on a new recycling education campaign — the catchphrase: “Take a minute before you bin it.” — with the hope that better recycling practices will decrease contamination, and by association, costs. Most importers won’t buy recyclables with a contamination rate greater than 3 percent. Philly’s recycling tends to arrive to the plant at around 20 percent contamination. Reducing that figure through sorting and cleaning costs time and money.

To read the full story, visit https://www.phillymag.com/news/2019/04/24/philadelphia-recycling-program-return/#1q8BJbifAVUuPejw.99.

 

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