County resident? You might lose recycling privileges

Taos recycling center’s future up for grabs

Town of Taos officials say that without a different plan for shoring up revenues, surrounding communities have until September before they close the recycling center to non-town residents.

In a lengthy meeting of the Taos Regional Landfill board Thursday (June 20) town of Taos officials said the center’s logistics would drastically change soon if the landfill board did not offer assistance to the Taos Recycling Center. The Taos Regional Landfill Board is made up of representatives from communities on the Enchanted Circle including the town of Taos, Eagle Nest, Red River, Taos Ski Valley, Questa and Taos County.

Town officials proposed the landfill board take over managing the recycling center so that surrounding communities would be in charge of the funding of the center, rather than just town residents.

“We are now at the point where it makes no economic sense for us to operate a collection facility on our own without some financial support,” town manager Rick Bellis said. “From a scale of economics, a regional solution works best for solid waste.”

Bellis and the town have been working out possible solutions to justify operating a costly recycling center for the county to use. According to town financials, the recycling center brings in far less money than it takes to operate on an annual basis. In 2018, the center brought in $83,000 in revenue while the operating costs exceeded $290,000. The revenues have declined considerably since China stopped buying American recyclables in the previous year.

Bellis said town residents are the only ones who pay for use of the recycling center, but residents of the county freely deposit their recycled materials in the center without a fee. The town of Taos wishes to change this and bring in Taos County residents to help alleviate the costs of the center.

County officials said there was a larger problem.

“What’s going on here is not the money being put into it, but the way it’s being run,” said Taos County Code Enforcement Officer Lorenzo Gutierrez, a member of the landfill board. “The recycling center can be fixed, but it needs management there that cares about recycling.”

Gutierrez said the loads

at the recycling center are often contaminated due to a lack of knowledge about what can be recycled and how. In addition, Gutierrez said new, friendlier and more helpful staff was needed at the center.

The board came to an agreement, to the town’s chagrin, to form a committee to look at the pros and cons of taking over control of the center.

“My fear is if we create a committee, this can is easily going to get kicked down the road,” said town councilor George ‘Fritz’ Hahn. “The town is quite serious. On September 1, we will take care of our own residents.”

Town residents are charged 75 cents per month to fund the center, which does not nearly cover the operational costs of the center. Town officials said more revenue would come into the center if county residents were charged the same 75-cent fee.

Members of the board were skeptical that the takeover would make the center more successful by taking on the financial burden of running it.

County commissioner Candyce O’Donnell said that if the board were to take control of the center, it would have to be a total takeover.

Recycling centers make money based on the products they sell. Cardboard, aluminum and other metals are the most profitable materials at the moment but loads must be clean in order for buyers to be interested. Cardboard cannot contain oils or food wastes on it and must be corrugated, not simply flat paper board. The price on plastic recyclables has fallen significantly since 2018 and most buyers will not take the product if loads are not washed and clean.

“It’s challenging across the whole country, not just here is Taos,” said board chairman Russel Church. “We’re not alone in that.”

The board discussed the feasibility of only allowing town residents inside the center and a possible closure of the center, although town and county officials have said they hope to keep the recycling center open for the community.

Morgan Timms/The Taos News Owen Pruett, of Tularosa, is thrown from his bull, named Smokehouse, on Saturday (June 22) during the 52nd annual Rodeo de Taos at Taos County Sheriff’s Posse. Pruett was escorted off the premise by medical personnel after the bull stomped on his leg. The following day, Pruett was back in the bucking chute. For more rodeo photos, see Tempo’s On the Scene.

Jesse Moya/The Taos News Daniel Padilla said Enchanted Circle Glass makes at least one trip per week to the Taos Recycling Center to deposit unusable glass. Without the recycling center, Padilla said this glass would likely end up in the landfill.

Jesse Moya/The Taos News Glass piles up at the Taos Recycling Center as officials across Taos County figure out what to do with the center that is losing the town of Taos money. In 2018, the center brought in $83,000 in revenue while the operating costs exceeded $290,000.