Allen County’s experiment with a new recycling program is just getting started, but questions about its cost, scope and long-term direction surfaced during county commissioner’s Tuesday morning meeting.
The county began its recycling program this month with a limited schedule, from 8 to 10 a.m., on the second and third Saturdays of each month, at 412 N. State St.
The first day was Saturday, with four people bringing materials.
“We had cardboard, milk jugs, and some No. 2 plastic, so not too bad for the first time,” Public Works Director Mitch Garner said.
The county plans to operate the program for six months before deciding whether to continue or modify it. Commissioners have described the effort as a trial, with the goal of determining what level of public participation exists and what approach is more practical for the county.
The program is currently limited to cardboard, No. 2 plastics and white office paper. Garner said those materials were selected based on what JKS Sanitation, the company handling the county’s recyclables, is currently able to accept.
ALLEN COUNTY recycling volunteers Dan Davis, Vince Coons and Steve Strickler came before commissioners with questions about the new program. Davis said volunteers routinely hear questions from residents and wanted to better understand how the county’s system works so they can provide accurate answers.
“I thanked him for taking the lead on this and, you know, doing some legwork and getting some ideas,” Davis said of Garner.
Davis said longtime volunteers have seen residents appreciate having a place to recycle. “I hope that folks support what the county is doing,” he said.
The volunteers also wanted to know what happens to materials after they are collected.
Garner said cardboard, certain No. 2 plastics and white paper collected by the county will go to JKS Sanitation, based in Erie. JKS will bale the materials and send them through a broker, although Garner said he had not yet determined the ultimate destination.
The county uses Green Environmental Services to transport the container.
Davis said volunteers have historically been able to track some of their materials farther down the recycling chain. Cardboard has gone to facilities in Oklahoma and Arkansas, while glass is sent to a recycler in Kansas City.
THE ECONOMICS of the program became a significant part of the discussion.
Garner said it costs the county $200 to move the recycling container and $150 per ton for the material. He estimated it could take as long as two months to accumulate a ton.
The county plans to weigh the container at the landfill before transporting it so they know precisely how much material is being hauled. The program also requires county employee time, estimated at about four hours a month.
