Rachel Surratt, an employee of the Book and Bean, recycles broken down boxes. The coffee shop recycles all cardboard and plastics that it receives its products in.
Laramie has recycling problems again as Ark Regional Services have announced they will shut down their recycling program in May.
Big Hollow Food Coop Manager, Marla Peterson, estimates they fill the Ark recycling dumpster twice a week with cardboard.
“There’s no way the city’s smaller curbside bins could handle that kind of volume,” Peterson said.
Brooks Webb, the city’s Solid Waste Manager said the cardboard should not go in the landfill.
“Whether it’s cardboard or any recyclables, we want to try to keep those out of the landfill as much as possible,” Webb said. “They take up basically unneeded space and it’s material that could be turned into new product.”
According to cities utility billing information, more than 7,300 residential accounts receive recycling services. Some counties, however, are outside city limits and therefore cannot be serviced by the city’s recycling.
“Without Ark recycling, some county residents are worried they’ll be left without options,” Webb said.
The city has yet to figure out a permanent solution to the impending problem.
“The City of Laramie’s landfill improvement project should provide a stop gap recycling option for those served by the cities curbside program,” Webb said.
A landfill improvement project is set to open April 1.
“The plan is that anybody will be able to use that,” Webb said. “That’s where we’ve been hearing a lot of stuff, is that the county folks don’t really have an option. But the landfill services the entire Albany County, so if we’re doing a program out there at the landfill, it’s going to service the entire county.”
Webb said the amount charged will be based on the weight set in an ordinance and in a minimal load charge.
“I would assume that when people come out to the landfill, they’re going to be bringing trash anyway with their recycling, so they’re going to be paying for that when they come in,” Webb said.
The city has yet to set rates for recycling in the fee ordinance, Webb said.
“The city might also set up separate containers for cardboard in locations throughout the city, such as downtown,” Webb said.
Shirley Pratt, Ark Regional Services and President and CEO, said Ark kept 400 tons of cardboard out of the landfill annually and much of that was collected in containers downtown.
Webb said he thinks city officials would likely be interested in placing contain downtown to keep cardboard out of the landfill, but that those discussions have yet to take place.
“We haven’t had a whole lot of time to get together and figure out what we need to do going forward,” Webb said. “I know that meeting is going to come soon.”
Laramie residents have also expressed concerns about a lack of recycling options in the downtown area, Webb said. Ark’s administrators, Pratt said, felt they cannot justify putting money into a program when that money can go to into other mission driven services.
“At the core of things, I want people to know that what we do is facilitate opportunities for folks with disabilities. But recycling that we’ve done for so long, that’s why people know us,” Pratt said.
