Like so many other cities and counties across the country, my county is axing curbside recycling next week. We have been recycling in Polk County, Florida for more than two decades. But due to “dramatic increases in operating cost and user marked volatility”, it all comes to a close in seven short days.
I cannot say that I’m surprised. I am really not. As someone who writes extensively about industrial plastic recycling as part of my job, I have been aware of the failures of curbside recycling for years. Quite frankly, I am surprised that it took so long for my county to finally pull the plug.
Paper, Plastic, and Glass
Every week for decades, residents have dutifully put their recycling bins to the curb weekly. Inside those bins has been a selection of paper, plastic, and glass items. Unfortunately, a lot of the bins also contained other things – which is partly the reason for shutting the program down.
Two decades ago, the county believed they could make money on curbside recycling. It wouldn’t take much to sort paper, plastic, and glass, then sell what was sorted to recyclers. But the plan never panned out. It has not panned out anywhere in the country. Let us look at the reasons for that.
Operating Costs
Most municipal recycling decisions are made based on money. We like to think that there is something more noble in play, but money is the driver. And my county finally decided they could no longer afford escalating operating costs. The program has been too far in the red for too long.
What’s the big deal? Trucks burn fuel and require maintenance. They also require insurance. The county needs to hire people to drive those trucks or subcontract the work to a private waste hauler. Either way, labor is not cheap. Someone has to pay wages and benefits.
Perhaps the biggest hurdle of all is the amount of money spent on sorting. All of the items that consumers were putting in their recycling bins were combined in the trucks at pickup. Then truckloads had to be taken to a sorting facility where a combination of human beings and machines separated the recyclable products from trash. Once again, the sorting process is expensive.
Market Volatility
The county has long depended on selling recycled materials to cover the costs of the program. But market volatility – which is to say that prices for recycled materials are constantly in flux – makes it impossible for county leaders to figure out how much they will get from recycling while planning the budget. And at the end of every budget year, what they actually got was never enough.
The price for recycled plastic could be high today but comparatively low next month. Without stable pricing, there is just no way to consistently cover costs. And when sales proceeds are not enough, the county needs to dip into the general budget.
It Works Elsewhere
What confuses so many people is that recycling is successful elsewhere. Take Seraphim Plastics in Tennessee. They are among a group of companies that consistently and profitably recycle post-industrial plastic scrap. So why does it work for them and not my county? The simple answer is that Seraphim Plastics can control its costs while having access to a stable market for their recycled products.
Post-industrial recycling is much easier because the process is significantly less costly. Post-industrial recyclers can manage market volatility by building it into their margins. Municipalities, like my county, do not have that luxury. Post-consumer recycling is just too expensive. There isn’t enough room to account for market fluctuations.
