The Columbus City Council has approved the second reading of an ordinance that appropriates $100,000 from the city’s general fund to the department of public works’ budget, allowing for the extension of a curbside recycling disposal contract.
The Columbus Board of Public Works had approved a three month contract with Rumpke to use its transfer station for the Columbus Recycles program at the end of January, knowing that additional funds would be needed at a later date to extend the contract through the end of the year.
The city had an agreement with Ray’s Trash Service since curbside recycling began in 2015 that expired on Feb. 1 of this year. After Ray’s was purchased by Waste Management in 2022, the price of their services had gone up significantly, Director of Public Works Bryan Burton said.
“When we set out bids this year for the contract to renew it, we sent it out to Waste Management, Best Way and Rumpke. Rumpke was the only response that we received back, the other two let us know that they had no intent to bid at this time,” Burton said during the first reading of the ordinance on March 19.
Burton said Rumpke charges $825 per load of recyclables.
“What that means— it’s not loads that we take them, but it’s how many they haul out. So that’s about three or four loads a week that they’re going to haul,” Burton said.
“We are asking for $100,000 to be put into the recycling fund, we have $75,000 in there now. We think that should cover us for the rest of the year,” Burton said during the first reading of the ordinance.
When public works went through the budgeting process in mid-to-late 2023, Burton had informed city council members that an appropriation was probably going to be requested.
The market for recyclables has changed significantly since the city began curbside recycling. Columbus Mayor Mary Ferdon said that when she started with the city in 2016, the community was actually getting paid for its recyclables.
“Then somewhere about 2019-2020, it was like a break even and now we’re paying ($175,000-$200,000) a year,” Mayor Ferdon said during the first reading. “The market for recyclables has really changed. Not only have we grown it, but it’s really changed.”
Ferdon added: “We’re looking at some alternatives down the road that will really help the city, as well as help the county, but for right now this is just a short-term gap filler that we have to do because the recycling market has changed.”
