PAOLA – Rising costs in the recycling industry have forced Paola city leaders to consider possible changes to its current service, which is provided through a contract with Waste Management.
Paola City Council members discussed the issue with City Manager Sid Fleming during a work session Tuesday, Sept. 1.
Fleming said Waste Management is dealing with rising recycling expenses due to Chinese recycling contamination import restrictions that were recently implemented.
It’s costing Waste Management more money to process the recyclables, and Fleming said that expense could get passed on to the city in the form of a fee increase.
The council members reviewed multiple options during the work session. Fleming said it appears Waste Management could continue the same weekly recycling service at an added monthly cost to the city of 88 cents per customer.
It was not finalized whether that increasing expense would be passed on to residents, but city officials did say the amount the city charges residents for trash and recycling is very close to what the city must pay Waste Management, as the operation is nearly break even.
Mayor Artie Stuteville also pointed out that the city’s contract with Waste Management includes an annual 2 percent fee increase, which would be in addition to any increase needed for recycling.
Another option would be to change the recycling collection schedule to every other week to reduce the expenses for Waste Management, but multiple council members expressed concern with that approach. Council members Dave Smail and Leigh House both said they fill up their large recycling containers every week, and Smail expressed concern that residents would just start throwing away recyclables if they weren’t picked up each week.
A third option would be to do nothing, but Fleming said Waste Management could end up imposing a fee increase at a later date anyway, and crews likely would be more adamant about not picking up recycling loads that are deemed to be contaminated with trash.
Fleming said the city plans to team up with Waste Management on a public information campaign to make sure residents understand what can be recycled and what could possibly contaminate a recycling container.
Fleming said there’s currently a 25 to 35 percent contamination rate in the recycling pickup.
No official decision could be made at the work session, but the council members all agreed that recycling is a worthwhile service they would like to see continue, and they asked to see recycling use statistics for the city of Paola before making a decision.
Fleming agreed that recycling is an important resource for residents.
“I think it’s a good thing to have in the community as you try to be an attractive community, but there is a cost to that,” Fleming said.