County recycling could be privatized

Low commodity prices and high shipping costs have made recycling in the Flathead a losing proposition for the county for years.

After Valley Recycling told the Flathead County Solid Waste Board its bid for countywide recycling could go up 20-30 percent, the board opted to look for a company to completely take over the recycling program.

Valley Recycling has held the contract for years and provides blue recycling bins at green-box collection sites and other locations across the valley. The contract ends in January, and the board directed public works director Dave Prunty to negotiate a month-to-month contract with Valley Recycling while the county advertises for proposals.

Recycling saves space in the county landfill, but the county has lost $361,091 on recycling since 1998, Prunty said. The program lost $41,515 last year. The biggest annual loss was $97,508 in 2010.

“Typically it’s been a financial loser,” Prunty said. “Of course, the benefit is not putting it into the landfill. It’s time to say, ‘Let’s step back and see what the private side can do.’ Hopefully we can recraft this.”

Commodity prices in October were 60 cents a pound for aluminum, 3.9 cents a pound for cardboard, 2.9 cents a pound for plastic and .07 cents a pound for tin.

While the county has worked with schools and stores to provide the blue bins, some of those sites could be closed depending on the kind of proposals that come in from private companies, Prunty said. The only sites the county could “lock in” would be the green-box sites operated by the county.

“We still want to be involved,” Prunty said.