LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) - Certain coded plastics in Wyoming will no longer be accepted for recycling amid efforts to reduce the use of unwanted plastics, city officials said.
Any plastic with recycling codes 3 through 7 will be sorted and put in landfills instead of recycled under a new city contract approved last week, the Laramie Boomerang reported.
Laramie City Council officials have agreed to the new contract through 2022, with the city paying recycling contractor Waste Management $95 for each ton of recyclable materials processed , excluding plastics 3 through 7.
The city and Waste Management split the revenue generated from the sale of recycled materials, city officials said.
Waste Management has been unable to find companies that will use the plastic material, so they have been trucked to Denver where they sit in a warehouse, officials said.
“This wasn’t a decision we made to reduce our recycling, there simply just is not a market for this plastic,” council-member Brian Harrington said. “If we want to counter this, then reduction is the only option. So quit using plastics 3-7 if you can.”
That material accounted for more than 2.5% of the city’s recycling stream in January, city officials said.
The city would be charged an extra fee for processing the material, Waste Management company officials said.
The city would be charged an extra $5 a ton if a truckload of waste is more than 15% contaminated with that material, and that fee increases with greater percentages of contamination, officials said.
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