HINTON W. VA (WVVA) - Summer's County previously had a recycling program, and a Facebook post with over 180 responses, show many community members want it back.

Teeya Mills, the Executive Director of the Summer's County Solid Waste Authority, said decreased market value, caused by the pandemic, contributed to the programs demise.

"The market is over saturated because of all the online ordering people are doing," said Mills. "Cardboard no longer has any value, and that was one of our big sources of revenue."

Despite the fact Summers County suspended recycling, it is something that is in high demand with many residents as they feel it would help the community.

Susan Mazur Stommen is among those residents who want to recycle in the county. She said she often sees large social media threads supporting the idea that people want it back in the community.

"People really want it here: they really do," said Stommen. "It's a very solid consensus that people want recycling. It's not a minority opinion at all. I've seen huge threads about recycling in Hinton, in Summers County."

Candice Helms, is a resident of Hinton who said some people find it so important they transport their recyclable materials to other counties.

"A lot of locals will kind of group together, and bundle up their recycling together and then they take it elsewhere as a team effort," said Helms.

Stommen is among those residents. She takes her recyclables to Greenbrier County to be recycled.

"It's basically keeping it out of the landfill, potentially helping out the economy, and also you know just waste, I mean there's something very distrubing about wasting so much stuff," said Stommen.

Another contributing factor to Summer's County not recycling was people dumping regular trash items at recycling sites.

However, the market for those materials is more at fault for the collapse of the program.

Mills said the Solid Waste Authority will begin hosting public meetings in the spring to re-evaulate the county's recycling plan, but until then residents will have to focus on reducing and reusing.