The Tri-County Solid Waste District, Springdale, Ark., authorized its director to seek proposals from private industry to build and operate a centrally located, regional material-recycling facility.
Board members voiced skepticism about the feasibility of the project at the district's quarterly meeting in the Springdale City Council chambers. They said that they are concerned that it would lose money, require subsidies, siphon funds from other projects and drive up transportation costs to member cities and counties.
District director Steven Parker, who recommended seeking proposals, reminded the board that the district would be under no obligation to award any of the bids.
"We may find a deal that we can't refuse," Parker told the board.
Parker said that proposals will likely require subsidies from the district, rather than generate revenue.
He told reluctant board members that the proposed facility is not meant to replace existing collection centers in the district, which include ones in Washington, Benton and Madison counties. A centralized facility would primarily process material for resale, not serve as a centralized collection point.
Parker said that the idea developed after studying the feasibility of smaller-scale facilities at the district's property west of Prairie Grove and also in Siloam Springs.
"The more and more we looked at it, (we realized that for small facilities) the economics are tough," Parker said. "A single regional recycling facility makes a lot more economic sense."
Parker envisions a facility that would accept cardboard, newspaper, office paper, junk mail, clear and colored plastic, steel and aluminum cans. Glass would probably not be accepted, unless it is separated from the other material and dropped off separately, Parker said. A regional facility might be somewhere along Interstate 540 or U.S. 71 near the boundary between Benton and Washington counties, he suggested.
Parker said at least one regional and national company is interested in submitting a proposal showing how it would handle the recyclable material generated in the district. Officials from three other companies -- Waste Management Inc., Roll Off Service Inc. and Haz-Mert Inc. -- also attended Thursday's meeting.
Washington County Judge Jerry Hunton said that it bothers him to go to all this trouble to recycle and then end up subsidizing it.
"The cheapest thing to do is to stick it all in a hole in the ground, but that's not the right thing to do," Parker said.
Material that is collected for recycling often ends up in landfills, Hunton said.
Jim Ecker, Benton County director of environmental affairs, said that funding a regional facility means less grant money for other projects.
"I'm struggling with it. I don't see why we need it," Ecker said.
Madison County Judge Wes Fowler, district chairman, said that he believes that added transportation costs will offset any saving by processing the material and selling it from a central location. The county already sends its aluminum to Fayetteville to bring a higher price, he said. (Springdale, Ark.) Morning News