Recycling is worth the extra cost
Flathead County is at a crossroad with its recycling program.
For years county residents have had easy access to the blue recycling boxes placed at most green-box collection sites and at various local businesses and schools. Residents have been encouraged to recycle because it’s the environmentally responsible thing to do.
Recycling is a wonderful service provided by the county, but it costs money. For the past several years the county has subsidized the recycling program at a level of about $50,000 a year. The county’s contract with Valley Recycling has expired, though, and upcoming rates will be substantially higher.
It should be noted that in this rural part of the country, it’s tough to make money at recycling because of the transportation costs of trucking out the recycled goods.
In an attempt to privatize the program, the county advertised for proposals and got just one bid, from Valley Recycling. To keep the current level of service, however, it would cost the county about $188,000 a year.
Granted, that’s a lot of money to collect 1,200 tons of recyclables a year — just over 1 percent of the county’s garbage.
We agree, however, with the Solid Waste District board’s consensus that the county has an obligation to recycle. Recycling isn’t the only service that costs the county money. It costs big bucks to maintain roads, provide adequate law enforcement and so on. In this day and age, recycling has become part of our mindset; it’s the right thing to do.
If you don’t believe us, consider the poll data from www.dailyinterlake.com, where we asked whether the county should pay the $188,000 a year to maintain current levels of recycling. Fully 72 percent of people responding said the county should pay the increased price, while only 28 percent argued the county should make fiscal prudence its priority and cut the level of recycling.
The Solid Waste board has asked the county commissioners to consider increasing the annual solid waste tax, which is currently $80.73. It would take an increase of close to $2 per property owner to adequately cover the recycling losses. No one likes to see taxes go up, but $2 a year seems reasonable.
Another workable compromise is trimming back the number of sites offering the blue recycling bins. Removing the bins from Super 1 Foods and Albertsons would save the county more than $80,000 a year. Residents who patronize the bins at Super 1 could take their recyclables to Pacific Recycling, and those using the bins at Albertsons only have to drive a short distance to drop off their items at Valley Recycling.
One commissioner suggested “re-inventing” the recycling program and holding a workshop to brainstorm new ideas. More conversation on the matter would be helpful as the county works toward a reasonable solution.
We encourage the county to keep its recycling program in some form.
(Editor’s Note: If you wish to vote in the Inter Lake’s online poll about recycling, just go to http://www.dailyinterlake.com/polls/).
Editorials represent the majority opinion of the Daily Inter Lake’s editorial board.