Indiana city to switch recycling service providers

Materials collected by the recycling program in Kokomo, Indiana, will soon be heading to Recovery Recycling Inc. of Peru, Indiana.

According to an article on the Kokomo Tribune website, the city is introducing a citywide curbside recycling program by Dec. 1, 2016, and intends to direct the materials to Recovery Recycling Inc., possibly in the framework of a 10-year contract.

A city official the story quotes says recent investments made by Recovery Recycling in a new material recovery facility (MRF) “works very well with what we need to do to make the program successful.”

The same officials is critical of a lack of investment by Kokomo Recycling, the company that has been handling the city’s curbside materials for several years, saying the firm “wouldn’t make the adjustments necessary” to handle the curbside materials.

According to the Tribune article, under terms of the new contract, the city of Kokomo will pay $62 per ton for processing and handling to Recovery Recycling, less than an $85 per ton amount offered by Kokomo Recycling.

The Tribune also quotes Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight as saying, “Recovery Recycling has the experience we need to implement curbside in Kokomo. With this agreement, we move forward and we are looking forward to the implementation of our program.”

The city has spent nearly $35,000 on 7,000 curbside recycling containers to implement its program in late 2015 and January 2016.