Recession Revisited: Hereīs
the latest
installment
in the seemingly endless series of
stories about economic hardships
afflicting public-sector recycling
agencies. This one comes from
Ithaca, N.Y., where the Tompkins
County solid waste division is
scrambling to cut costs while
raising recycling collection and
waste disposal fees and implementing
a new yard waste fee to help soften
the blow of a projected $240,000
deficit.
Like a lot of these recent
stories, though, if you read
carefully, there is a hint of a
silver lining. Slowly but surely,
the market for recyclable materials
is rebounding. We may well have
weathered the worst of this
recession. Letīs just hope the
uptick starts upticking at a faster
pace than it has been.
In related news, a regional solid
waste collection agency in Virginia,
the Southeastern Public Service
Authority, said it will
discontinue
all of its recycling programs,
citing the need to cut costs and
restructure itself into a leaner,
meaner organization.
The SPSA has provided recycling
programs to its member localities --
six cities and two counties in
southeastern Virginia -- for the
last 21 years. The authority said it
will halt curbside collection and
close drop-off centers by early next
year. About 30 workers will lose
their jobs.
The SPSAīs member localities will
be free to sign recycling contracts
with private companies to provide
the services the authority is
terminating.
Pete
Fehrenbach is managing
editor of Waste & Recycling News.
Past installments of this column are
collected in
the Inbox
archive.
