Dive Brief:
- Waste Management announced the closure of its public recycling center in Colorado Springs, CO.
- The waste and recycling company blames a high volume of contaminated materials and the expense of cleaning up blowing debris as the main motivations for the decision.
- The center will remain in operations as a commercial collection center.
Dive Insight:
Lara Rezzarday, a Waste Management spokesperson, said, “High contamination rates can ruin a whole load of recyclables, and the result is that recycling can become unprofitable and unsustainable.”
That sentiment is not a new one. In November 2013, David Steiner, the CEO of Waste Management, said that due to a decrease in commodity pricing, profitability in recycling is evaporating. He said: “Recycling is not profitable. We have lost money in recycling over the last one and a half years.”
Even as recently as February, when Waste Management released its Q4 numbers, challenges stemming from recycling were cited as dragging down the company’s profits.
Contamination is a reoccurring issue for recycling firms. Some facilities are attempting to reduce the frequency of contaminated materials by tagging bins or revoking recycling privileges from non-complying households. Municipalities in Rhode Island are charged for every load of recyclables that is contaminated.
