Officials: Rumors about end of recycling unfounded
Published 1:15 am Saturday, January 2, 2016
NATCHEZ — Officials say rumors that recycling will end this week are just that — rumors.
Word that the recycling program ending spread over the last week after recycling pickup runs were missed following Christmas.
The reason the pickup was missed, however, was because one of the three trucks Waste Pro uses to collect recycling broke down.
In some parts of Adams County, the story that spread was that recycling pickup was going to continue inside the city limits but not outside. Adams County Administrator Joe Murray said the county’s 500-house pilot program would continue at least through June, when the recycling contract was up for review.
“We are still paying for it to be picked up, and that is not going to change any time soon,” Murray said. “Our contract will be up for renewal in June, and it may be restructured for frequency then.”
Murray said he spoke with Waste Pro — which picks up the recycling collections for the county outside the city limits — after hearing the rumors.
“I talked to Doug Atkins, and he said, ‘Until y’all tell us to stop, we aren’t stopping,’” Murray said.
Concordia Metal Recycling Coordinator Jim Smith said recycling hasn’t been as profitable as it once was because the downturn in international markets — including oil — affects the price of commodities.
A task force has been formed to see if the recycling effort can be made sustainable in the long run, and Smith said he would be sending members a letter with two full years of data this week.
“The task force will meet in January, and everything will be settled in March one way or the other,” he said.