After months of dealing with a struggling recycling market, Sierra Vista city officials decided to end the curbside recycling pick up program and replace it with a recycling drop-off site. Richard Cayer with the city’s Public Works Department said they began seeing a shift in the recycling market nearly 18 months ago. “We could no longer afford to pay to get rid of recyclable materials, we had to find a more efficient way,” said Cayer.
Cayer said when China stopped buying most recyclables from the United States, Sierra Vista was hit hard. So, city officials decided they needed to make a change, at least for the time being. The drop-off site will allow nearly 11,000 Sierra Vista residents who were a part of the blue bin recycling program to drop off their recyclables. “At this point were going to accept aluminum cans and tin cans, cardboard, and number one and number two plastics,” said Cayer.
A public works employee will staff the drop-off site with the help from Department of Corrections inmates. They will help sort through all of the recyclable materials that come in and will make sure they get into the correct containers. While city officials are hopeful the drop-off site will be popular among residents, they recognize it could take some time for popularity to pick up. “It’s the old, if we build it, they will come, that’s what we’re hoping for,” said Cayer.