SWAINTON –– Cape May County Municipal Utilities Authority (MUA) held hearings for its proposed 2009 solid waste and wastewater user and tipping fees, which will increase for the first time in 14 years.
“I assume there’s no objection since there’s been no comments. I guess they understood,” Chairman George Betts said.
Board members said they received no emails or phone calls prior to the meeting and sparse members of the public in attendance did not comment on the first increase since 1994.
Disposal fees will increase from $60.75 per ton to $63 per ton. Construction and demolition per ton fees are up from $68.35 to $69 per ton. The 3.89 percent wastewater rate increase varies among towns depending on population and flow.
Board members said tipping fee increases are necessary because of a 3.57 percent decrease in tonnage sent to the Intermediate Processing Facility (IPF) this year, therefore, the authority does not receive enough materials to turn a profit, particularly when the commodity price of recyclables is down.
Board members commented on recycled materials being sent oversees to China where they are used to create packaging for products that are again sold to the U.S.
The MUA board has established a contract with FCR Camden LLC, which markets recyclable materials on their behalf with a guarantee to maintain consistent pricing.
“Those without long-term contracts suffer the most,” Solid Waste Program Coordinator John Baron said referring to Atlantic County MUA, which is hoarding its unsold materials. This is because now, as people buy less, there is a lack of need for those recycled materials to be transformed into products. With this, the authority experiences a cyclic slow down, in rhythm with the global economy.
Baron said he still projects towns would receive annual per ton recycling rebates, despite revenue losses. He said recycling experts expect the situation to turn around by the middle of 2009.
During the first eight months of 2008 the county achieved a 34.4 percent municipal waste stream diversion rate. January through August the diversion rate of solid waste was 27.71 percent. Baron said the authority did well through October but basically crashed in November.
“After the bottom dropped out, we’re still able to sell at a good level,” Baron said.
The authority is able to sell some products above market price, such as steel cans and tin, which sold at $400 per ton, almost twice the market rate of about $200, in July.
MUA Executive Director Charles Norkis said paper, cardboard and aluminum products are the best moneymakers but the authority is receiving less than one-third of what it had in years past. The authority’s contract with FCR establishes a “floor” or minimum amount the authority will get for materials.
He said MUA’s 2008 budget was created in relation to this “floor.”
The projection is if the MUA stays exactly at the numbers it is achieving now, it will “barely break even in 2008,” Baron said.
Betts shared his economic theory with the board, “When recycling is high, the rest of the world is not spinning right.”
Upper Township – Again, kids drinking and being loud half the night near a local business. No matter how often authorities are called they say call the owner. Management does nothing except say; they do what they are…
