LACKAWANNA COUNTY, Pa. — Plastic and glass from all over Lackawanna County are brought to the Lackawanna County Recycling Center, a privately owned business on Boulevard Avenue in Scranton.
Recently, the municipalities that are contracted to pay $40 per ton to use the service were hit with sticker shock.
"We knew going into the year approximately how much tonnage of commingled and that is what we budgeted for. Now we are looking at the price being tripled for the last 5 months of the year," said Blakely Borough Chris Paone.
The new price per ton is $120. Blakely Borough Manager Chris Paone says at that rate, the borough will have to shell out an additional $14,000 per year. He says Bakely and some other boroughs are now looking for other recycling options.
"We have to do it in the most cost-effective way possible. We don't want to pass any on to the residents. We want to keep it the way it is," said Paone.
County Solicitor Don Frederickson explains the problem is not all communities are handing over clean items to be recycled.
"Some of these communities are using pack masters to collect the recyclables, and they are crushing it, crushing the glass it makes it unrecyclable, and they are getting stuck with having to take it to the landfill to dispose of it because it is garbage at that point," said Frederickson.
Frederickson explains that's not the case for all municipalities.
"They are bringing in clean recyclables, separated, and so forth, and it looks like they are trying to charge the same rate; they are painting everyone with a broad brush," said Frederickson.
The recycling center manager was not available for comment. The Lackawanna County Solicitor hopes they can reach an agreement.
"We've sent them a letter, and we are looking to establish some dialogue with them to discuss this going forward," said Frederickson
"The municipalities in the area who recycle, have ordinances that mandate recycling. We don't want to violate our ordinances; we want to recycle," explained Paone.