Fee for taking mixed recyclables surges

TOWN OF ULSTER, N.Y. » The Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency has been charging $76.74 per ton this month to accept single-stream recyclables, up sharply from the previous $20-per-ton fee, and is standing by its decision to stop taking the mixed loads at the end of 2018.

The higher rate is the result of the agency having a harder time getting rid of the mixed, or commingled, loads amid collapsing demand and having to pay more to do so.

Agency officials said previously that their ability to dispose of single-stream recycling has been reduced because China, the world’s leading importer of commingled loads, has drastically cut its purchases.

“The single-stream problem relates to single stream itself,” agency board member David Gordon said at a board meeting Wednesday. “It’s not very good material, and the Chinese are the ones that found it out because the Chinese were the [biggest] market for using it.”

Single-stream recycling allows residents to put all recyclable materials — paper, cardboard, glass, metal and plastic — into a single bin for collection. Municipalities and private haulers in Ulster County generally bring the recyclables they collect to the Resource Recovery Agency, but the agency says it’s difficult for it to then get rid of the mixed loads because some of the materials, especially paper, are contaminated.

The sharp increase in the agency’s per-ton charge, or tipping fee, to accept commingled recyclables could rise further in the coming months depending on the agency’s costs.

Gordon said he recently discussed the issue with U.S. Rep. John Faso, R-Kinderhook, who subsequently wrote to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, urging that Lighthizer talk with Chinese officials about easing restrictions for accepting mixed recyclables.

“This shift in policy has dramatically altered the international waste-reclamation process due to the major role China has played in this global operation since the 1980s,” Faso wrote to Lighthizer. “While there are other markets for U.S. recyclables, nearly 40 percent of U.S. scrap exports go to China, and there is no way for other countries to simply absorb this large influx of materials.”