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Dropping price of recyclables hits area cities
By SUSAN SCHROCK
sschrock@star-telegram.com
Recycling isn’t bringing in as much green as it used to, waste managers say.
The slumping economy worldwide has driven down demand and prices for recyclable commodities such as paper, steel, aluminum and plastics. Last month, local recycling centers such as AbitibiBowater in Arlington were taking in only a fraction of what they were earning on those raw goods earlier this year.
"The markets certainly have taken a bit of a nosedive for everyone," said Darrell Clemons, AbitibiBowater’s area manager. "Demand is considerably down. It’s affecting us like it is everyone else."
Steel, for example, which was bringing in $450 a ton earlier this year, is now fetching $30 to $50. Newsprint dropped from $170 a ton to $50. Certain plastics, such as water and soda bottles, are down from 22 cents a pound to a penny.
"The prices are unprecedented," Clemons said.
Lower prices mean less revenue for some cities and the waste haulers who sell the materials they collect. Nationwide, recyclers are slashing jobs, limiting what types of materials they will accept or even stockpiling until demand improves. Some cities and counties have reportedly ceased their recycling programs because they are no longer profitable.
Despite uncertainty about when the markets will improve, area cities and businesses say they will continue curbside and other recycling programs.
Fort Worth, which recycles about 36,000 tons a year, has a revenue-sharing agreement with AbitibiBowater for the sale of its material. The city typically receives about $1 million a year from the company after processing fees. This year, however, the city may end up owing more than it brings in, said Kim Mote, environmental management assistant director.
"We’re viewing this as a temporary slowdown," Mote said. "The city has made a commitment to recycling. It’s just something we should do as a nation. We’re not going to dispose of the stuff in the landfill."
Fort Worth’s recycling revenue goes toward the cost to collect and dispose of garbage.
Duncan Disposal, which serves Arlington and Mansfield, and Houston-based Waste Management, which serves several other North Texas cities, said they plan to continue collecting recyclables. Both companies said, however, that if the price of the commodities stays low and fails to cover the processing costs, customers are ultimately going to have to pay more to have their recyclables picked up.
Most Tarrant County cities have long-term contracts with waste haulers to collect recyclables, but the companies can ask for a rate adjustment to cover operating costs.
AbitibiBowater, the sixth-largest recycling center in the U.S., said that it expects the slump in the market to last at least six months but that it is still finding buyers for its goods. The company’s primary job is to procure paper fiber for mills, but the sale of the other recyclables it collects helps offset operating costs, Clemons said. The facility may end up operating at a loss for part of the year, he said.
"We’re not making money," Clemons said.
Recycling blues Commodity prices — the value of glass, paper or plastic for recycling — have plunged. Here’s a sampling of the consequences:
Kanawha County, W.Va.: Residents were asked to stockpile their plastic and metals, which the county essentially quit picking up last week.
Frackville, Pa.: The recycling program was suspended because it’s cheaper to dump than to recycle.
Yellowstone National Park, Mont: The recycler now takes only cardboard.
Austin: October’s $27,444 in net sales of recyclables was down 75 percent from city estimates. Austin expected to recoup $1.9 million this fiscal year after reselling paper, plastic, glass and aluminum collected curbside. Ecology Action of Texas, a nonprofit that depends on recycling programs for the bulk of its income, expects to earn only half of a projected $5,000 a month from its recycling operations. Cycled Plastics Ltd., a private recycling company, laid off 15 employees last month.
East Lansing, Mich.: Recyclable collection and resale are running a monthly deficit of about $6,000, but the city’s budget didn’t anticipate income from the program. "We’re not going to have to cut any [recycling] services," said Dave Smith, East Lansing’s environmental specialist.
Tucson, Ariz.: The city still makes about $100 per ton on recycled materials. Officials credit their contract with Recycle America, which is run by Waste Management. Recycle America sells what Tucson collects and keeps half the revenue. The city gets the other half, minus a tipping fee, now $16.86 per ton. In October, the city received $133,687.34, and almost $10 million during the first seven years of the contract.
Sources: The New York Times, Austin American-Statesman, Lansing (Mich.) State Journal, The Associated Press
SUSAN SCHROCK, 817-548-5475