Swampscott to add surcharge for curbside recycling pickup

SWAMPSCOTT-Because of the economy, the town is no longer making money off its recyclable materials and will have to pay to get rid of them.Town Administrator Andrew Maylor said the town had been receiving a rebate of almost $3,000 from the company that collects recyclable materials placed curbside for collection, but that is no longer the case.?It’s primarily due to the recession,” he said. “This is one of those subtle consequences of the recession. The economy can affect municipalities in ways you normally wouldn’t think of.”Maylor said the price of paper has plummeted and the market for other recyclable materials is practically non-existent at this point.?The price paid for paper is down and plastic is getting much less of a return than it used to,” he said. “We’re actually paying to get rid of non-paper co-mingled stuff.”Maylor said the town generates approximately 56,000 tons of non-recyclable material, 800 tons of paper and 300 tons of non-paper recyclables each year.?It was a win/win situation,” he said. “We were keeping these materials out of incinerators. At the same time we were getting a rebate for the recyclables but business has changed due to the recession.”Even though the town is no longer making a money from recyclable materials, Maylor urged residents to continue recycling.?We will have a small surcharge due to recycling and will have to pay to get rid of recyclable materials,” he said. “But there is still a benefit ? we’re keeping these materials out of the waste stream. We’d be paying more to put the additional 1,100 tons of recyclables in the waste stream.”Maylor said he doesn’t expect the town would have to pay more than $8,000 a year to have its recyclables hauled away.?It’s not a budget buster,” he said. “But if you have a number of these small things it builds up ? you get seven or eight of these expenditures and it could mean a (staff) position.”Maylor said the contract the town has with North Shore Recycled Fibers expires June 30 and he is in the process of speaking with vendors regarding negotiating a new three year contract.