By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
Nephi has been considering ways the city might add recycling capabilities for residents since the paper waste recycling was taken from the city.
"The city staff is continuing to examine alternatives and has reviewed
recycling successes and challenges in other communities," said Randy McKnight, city administrator.
McKnight presented the most recent results of the city's latest explorations of recycling alternatives.
Nephi City is a member of and participates in the Recycling Coalition of Utah (RCU).
McKnight said that the city was represented on a panel at the association's conference to discuss the challenges of recycling in rural Utah.
RCU is a coalition of municipalities, businesses, institutions and individuals committed to improving recycling in Utah. As the State of Utah's official resource on recycling, RCU provides value to existing and new members committed to increasing and improving recycling, conservation and solid waste reduction in Utah.
Several conditions affect the availability of recycling opportunities in specific areas. These include population density, transportation costs, market prices and demand for recycled materials, proximity to commercial recycling entities, and the willingness to pay for recycling services.
He said that one lesson that has come more into focus is that recycling is not free.
According to a recent study from Utah Valley University, Utah still ranks as the 42nd worst state for recycling. One reason why that may be is because, for many people, it's a hassle.
McKnight shared an article from U.S. News, entitled "Recycling Vexes Rural Areas."
One of the examples in the article was of Grant Davis, an elementary school principal, who was concerned about what would happen to the 20-million bottles of water dropped off at Charleston, W. Va., after a chemical spill contaminated the culinary water supply.
"The result: All but an estimated three million of the empty bottles were dumped in landfills," the article stated.
One of the challenges of rural recycling is that drop-off sites are more than 25-miles away.
The article, which McKnight showed via a projector which he beamed on a wall of city hall, indicated that many small towns and rural counties struggle to offer recycling services, especially with tight government budgets, limited access to recycling processors and wide fluctuations in the market for recyclable materials.
"We were fortunate to have paper recycling available in our area during a time when market prices for recycled paper justified the transportation and other costs related to gathering donated paper and hauling it by truck to a processing center," said McKnight.
That opportunity ended in the Nephi area when market prices diminished, and it was no longer sustainable to collect paper in the valley and haul it north for processing.
"Getting that service back will require some type of subsidy for hauling costs," said McKnight.
Shawn Lindsey, quoted in the article, is a recycling expert who advises the not-for-profit Center for Rural Strategies, said some towns cannot get vendors to bring in recycling containers because it takes weeks to fill a bin, tying up a company asset and providing an insufficient return.
It is less expensive to dump trash, including recyclables, in a landfill in most rural areas. The same is not true of large cities. The price, said the article, can cost $20 a ton in Athens, Tenn, and more than $100 a ton in New York, making it more appealing to use recycling.
"Other recycling opportunities also require subsidies. For example, in communities where curbside recycling is available, residents and businesses pay a monthly fee to help pay the cost for the containers, the collection, and the transportation of the collected material," said McKnight.
Another problem is that people can contaminate recyclable with regular garbage. That can cause an entire 20-yard container to have to be discarded. That causes contamination and means that the recyclable has to be taken to a landfill.
"Although recycling is generally not free," said McKnight, "if it is a high enough priority, there are attractive possibilities for re-establishing paper recycling here and to expand the types of recycling that are available."
People want recycling, said McKnight.
Currently, recycling in Juab County is not available. There is one location in Springville, two in Provo and five in Orem for those who are interested.
Even without recycling possibilities near Nephi, there are still ways that residents can help take care of the planet, according to RCU. Residents can save energy, use less water, reduce how much is used per household, reuse what it is possible to reuse and then recycle where possible.
Compost food scraps, grass and other yard clippings, and dead plants.
Close the loop: buy recycled products and products that use recycled packaging. That's what makes recycling economically possible.
