Recycling revenue likely to drop

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The collapse in prices for recycled materials that hit last fall is likely to continue for months and probably means the county’s program will not see the high revenues this year that it has earned in the past, county Recycling Coordinator Joseph J. Miranda said.

“It could be six months or more of low prices,” Miranda said last week in delivering the annual report of the county recycling program.

But even with the abrupt decline that occurred in November, the county earned $793,000 from selling recycled materials last year because prices were running at record highs before the collapse.

“We could be substantially off in our revenues, by $400,000 or $500,000, if the market doesn’t turn around,” Miranda said.

The dramatic price drop that hit the county recycling program in November is being seen across the country and around the world. The National Recycling Coalition in Washington, D.C., said prices were too high and a correction was due, but it doesn’t predict how long the lower prices may last.

At the moment, Saratoga is even paying to have some materials taken away — materials that used to have willing buyers.

For instance, the county this month is paying $38.50 per ton to get someone to take its collected plastics, for which it was being paid $103 per ton as recently as October. After the sudden fall, the county was paid nothing for plastics in November and December.

Paper is a large part of the waste stream. In December, the county was receiving no revenue for paper, which dropped from $137 a ton in October to $1.60 a ton in November.

“This is the worst I’ve seen it since the late 1980s,” Miranda said.

The county recycling program started in 1988 when New York state passed a mandatory municipal recycling law.

At that time, prices were low because markets for the materials hadn’t yet been developed, and the county often paid to have paper, plastic, glass and other items taken away.

A commercial glass recycling market never developed, and the county now grinds its collected glass to be mixed into aggregate used in road bases.

Rather than enter long-term sales contracts with buyers, the county seeks quotes each month from several buyers of each recycled material in an effort to get the best price, Miranda said.

Miranda said Saratoga doesn’t have facilities to store collected materials until prices rise, as some communities do.

While the paper and plastics markets nationally both fell to recent lows, Miranda said the metal market recovered somewhat from its November low, rising from $76 per ton in November to $126 in December.

The markets had been at record highs earlier in the year, he noted, and then collapsed as the worldwide recession took a toll on demand, especially in the developing world,.

But even with the late-year collapse, the county made a significant amount of money for the year.

The county recycling program, which costs about $1 million a year to operate, brought in $793,000 in 2008, the second-most ever after the $847,300 the program earned in 2007.

In all, the county’s five recycling centers were responsible for removing 5,920 tons of material from the waste stream. County officials said the program needs to continue, even if the cost to the county is higher.

“We are at the mercy of the market, but we’re taking a large part out of the waste stream,” said Charlton Supervisor Alan R. Grattidge, chairman of the county Public Works Committee.

The county has mandatory recycling of newspapers, bulk metals, metal cans, glass and plastic bottles, and voluntary recycling of cardboard, magazines, office paper and batteries.

There are recycling collection centers in Saratoga Springs, Clifton Park, Milton, Corinth and Moreau.

Miranda said Saratoga Springs is the busiest site, followed by Clifton Park, Moreau, Milton and Corinth.