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Skyrocketing costs may force cities to end recycling
Jennifer Holton reports
SAFETY HARBOR, Fla. - On garbage day in Safety Harbor, green recycling bins line the curb. But commissioners could vote in January to ditch recycling completely
Safety Harbor Mayor Joe Ayoub said the city pays a facility in Ybor City $110 per ton to take its recyclables. It used to be free.
Facilities like the one in Ybor package up those materials and ship them to countries like China, where they are repurposed. Last year, China stopped accepting most of the United States' recyclables, citing health and environmental hazards, and its desire to keep things domestic.
Meanwhile, towns around the country are struggling with whether to raise the price of recycling for residents or can recycling altogether.
"There's an alternative that would cost the city $40 per ton, and that would be to turn the waste into energy at a facility in Pinellas County," Ayoub said.
But turning it into energy means burning it, which many residents say defeats the purpose.
"If they're going to burn it, that's just going to pollute the air,” said resident David Deal.
Others are indifferent.
"If they have the right filters, it's usable air as it comes out," said Earnest Watts, a snowbird who lives in Safety Harbor four months out of the year.
For decades, the trash industry has been shipping our plastics, paper and cans thousands of miles to China, the planet's biggest consumer of scrap material. But that came to a screeching halt in 2018.
Commissioners already voted to raise sanitation bills by 5.25% annually to cover the increased price of recycling, but it's not a sure thing just yet. Commissioners will have a final vote on the reading January 6, 2020.