Keep Recycling, But Market Dips Dim 2010 Rebates

SWAINTON – Are municipal recycling rebates the next “endangered species?”
The Cape May County Municipal Utilities Authority (CMCMUA) issued a release encouraging continued recycling efforts despite a decrease in market rates for second-hand materials.
Executive Director Charles Norkis said the regional recycling program continues to process and sell all materials collected, and gains revenue without having to stockpile processed or unprocessed recyclable materials. That is unlike some recycling programs that are considering suspending collections rather than pay processors or markets to accept source-separated materials.
The MUA owns and operates its own Intermediate Processing Facility (IPF) at the Woodbine Sanitary Landfill. That plant sorts, processes, densifies and transports recycled products, which are sold by the authority’s national service partner, FCR Inc.
FCR receives 20 percent of the profit while the county’s 16 municipalities get the rest in rebates proportionate to how many tons of waste each recycled.
Board member William Burns Jr. suggested the MUA send out “warnings” to municipalities indicating that next year the authority “may not to be able to help in the same volume of money” and annual municipal recycling rebates may not be available because of changing market rates for recycled materials.
Board members agreed the warning should be issued with this year’s rebate checks to assist municipalities in their budget planning processes.
Although the MUA receives one-fifth of what it did a year ago, officials noted that it continues to get positive revenue while other authorities must pay to rid of materials.
The MUA was able to agree on a floor price with FCR in a five-year contract, which expires at the end of this year. The floor price establishes a locked-in price the MUA will receive for materials therefore, Norkis said, the MUA is “buffered from a serious downturn” and market fluctuations.
“When markets get tight, they get selective. The IPF produces higher-quality less-contaminated materials than other processing facilities,” Norkis said.
“While recycling may no longer generate the market revenue we have seen over the past couple of years, it is still vitally important to continue to recycle from both a solid waste management and environmental perspective. Every ton of material recycled saves the municipality $63 per ton which is the disposal rate that would have been charged at the landfill,” said George Betts, board chairman.
“As a result of long-term marketing arrangements with FCR, the IPF operator, the CMCMUA has positioned itself to be able to market recyclables in both strong and weak market conditions in order to sustain our regional recycling program,” Solid Waste Program Manager John Baron stated.
CMCMUA created the first regional recycling program in the state in the 1980s when recycling markets were weak and source separation and recycling had not yet been mandated by the state.
“Despite the current economic climate, the CMCMUA remains committed to using its best efforts to comply with New Jersey law, which now requires that 50 percent of the municipal solid waste stream and 60 percent of the total solid waste stream be source-separated and recycled,” he stated.
“While we anticipate that our recycling programs will not be financially lucrative in 2009, they continue to successfully operate and we need to recognize that recycling represents a long-term investment in the environment that we must continue to support,” Norkis stated.
“We have operated our regional recycling program in poor recycling market conditions be-fore,” said Bridget O’Connor, county recycling coordinator.
“The CMCMUA is able and fully committed to continuing to operate our longstanding program and we urge our residents and businesses to keep recycling.”
Any individuals or businesses with questions about what or how to recycle should contact the CMCMUA at www.cmcmua.com or 609-465-9026.