By Bryan Boggiano
The city commission unanimously approved a contract with Waste Management, Inc. to return residential curbside recycling on October 6.
Recycling will resume in phases, beginning Monday, November 1, starting with single-family homes. In early 2022, the city will discuss recycling returning to multi-family residences.
Coral Springs entered a contract with Waste Management in 2018 to send all residential recycling to the company’s material recovery facility (MRF). But the city suspended it in 2020. As a result, the city transferred all recyclable items to a waste-to-energy facility.
When the city suspended its contract with Waste Management, the value of blended materials at MRFs was about $23/ton, but it is now about $107.37/ton.
At that time, foreign markets declined due to restricting imports, recycling costs increased rapidly, and recycling contamination increased, according to a press release.
Contamination happens when non-recyclable items end up in recycling. Highly contaminated loads increase processing fees and can be rejected.
The city started a Recycle Right campaign to educate the community on the economics of trash and why recycling properly is essential. After suspending traditional recycling, staff monitored the market to determine when would be a good time to bring back curbside recycling, according to a press release.
“Thankfully, commodity values have increased tremendously, making it a great opportunity for the city to resume our recycling program through a phased approach,” said Robert Norris, director of Public Works.
Along with recycling making a comeback, the city will conduct a multifaceted Recycle Right campaign to educate residents on what can and cannot be recycled to keep contamination rates and processing fees low.
“How much Coral Springs pays to recycle will be based on our contamination rate,” he said. “We are relying on every resident who lives in a single-family home to start recycling ‘right’ effective today to achieve the lowest possible contamination rate.”
Three audits measuring the contamination rate will occur on January 1, March 1, and May 1. After that, the city will conduct audits every six months. The last recycling audit, conducted in summer 2020, found a 36.5 percent contamination rate.
Recycling dropoff options continue at Mullins Park next to the Coral Springs Gymnasium, the Waste Transfer Station at 12600 Wiles Road, and Whispering Woods Park.
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