{"id":2452124,"date":"2019-12-11T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-12-12T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=317462"},"modified":"2019-12-11T22:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-12-12T05:00:00","slug":"big-subsidy-required-to-keep-recycling-drop-off-site-operating-in-basalt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/big-subsidy-required-to-keep-recycling-drop-off-site-operating-in-basalt\/","title":{"rendered":"Big subsidy required to keep recycling drop-off site operating in Basalt"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Plastic is piled in recycling dumpsters at the Waste Management Recycling Center in Basalt. The facility is in danger of closing in 2020.<\/strong>
Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The prospects for salvaging a drop-off recycling facility in Willits dimmed Tuesday night when Basalt Town Council members learned a subsidy would have to double next year.<\/p>\n

Town Manager Ryan Mahoney said town staff approached the private firm Waste Management over the last week to find out what it would take to continue operating the center at Willits.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did want to get that cost because Eagle County had expressed some interest in possibly helping to fund this, but we then found out in the last day that the new cost would be doubled,\u201d Mahoney told the council.<\/p>\n

Instead of a $60,000 annual subsidy, Waste Management said it would require $120,000 to keep the site operating.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole face of recycling seems to be changing and we\u2019re kind of caught in the middle of it,\u201d Mahoney said.<\/p>\n

Waste Management sorts recycled cardboard, glass, aluminum, plastic and paper at its facility in Willits and ships materials to a larger facility in Denver. Basalt planning director Susan Philp said a source in the trash and recycling industry told her companies such as Waste Management paid $11 per ton to drop off materials at the Denver facility last year. Now the fee is $86 per ton, she said. That\u2019s fueled the larger subsidy requirement.<\/p>\n

The recycling center saga has taken more turns than Mikaela Shiffrin on a slalom course. First, Pitkin County informed Basalt it would no longer split<\/a> the $60,000 subsidy starting in 2020. Basalt reacted by budgeting its $30,000 share to other green initiatives for next year.<\/p>\n

Basalt reconsidered recently when Eagle County officials said they would investigate the matter<\/a> and consider contributing to the subsidy. County officials said they are getting heavily lobbied on the issue by their constituents in the middle Roaring Fork Valley.<\/p>\n

Then the $120,000 bombshell fell. Mahoney told the council the Basalt staff continues to explore options with Waste Management.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt might be that a facility at Willits is either pared down or no longer exists and it would be up to individual homeowners to seek curbside,\u201d Mahoney said.<\/p>\n

Mayor Jacque Whitsitt said she favors seeking a solution with Eagle County government. She noted the county helps transport recyclable materials from towns in the Eagle Valley to the county-owned landfill in Wolcott. Councilman Gary Tennenbaum said perhaps the county could help transport materials from the Roaring Fork Valley portion of Eagle County to the landfill.<\/p>\n

Whitsitt said the potential closure has captured attention.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been on the receiving end of probably more communications from citizens about this particular issue than anything I\u2019ve heard about for a really long time,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s clearly something that is of great importance to people in the midvalley. I think we\u2019re not done with this conversation. I hope not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Councilwoman Jennifer Riffle said she hopes people continue to recycle, despite what happens with the drop-off facility at Willits. She noted trash haulers offer curbside recycling for a fee.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe it\u2019s time to buck up and pay that extra $4 a quarter to have recycling,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Councilwoman Katie Schwoerer said a grander solution is reducing the need for recycling and focus on reducing and reusing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to address consumption, excessive consumption in our culture,\u201d Schwoerer said. \u201cUntil that is dealt with, we\u2019ll continue to have these problems. So stop buying stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

scondon@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Plastic is piled in recycling dumpsters at the Waste Management Recycling Center in Basalt. The facility is in danger of closing in 2020.Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times The prospects for salvaging a drop-off recycling facility in Willits dimmed Tuesday night when Basalt Town Council members learned a subsidy would have to double next year. Town Manager […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2452124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-19 02:41:13","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2452124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2452124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2452124\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2452124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2452124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2452124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}