Dive Brief:
- The Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation made more than $1 million in profits selling recyclable material this year, and 50% of that — $551,700 — will go to cities and towns across the state to support recycling programs.
- Sarah Reeves, director of public policy programs and planning, said the agency's shared profits "are based directly on the amount of tons that each city and town brings to us through their recycling programs."
- The rebate is lower than last year because oil prices are down, making it cheaper for manufacturers to buy new plastic than to buy recycled material.
Dive Insight:
The Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation doesn't charge for recycling, but "there’s a cost to collection, there’s a cost to processing and to sorting," Reeves said. She noted the profit share helps support the costs that municipalities incur to collect recyclables.
However, the falling commodity prices that Rhode Island has faced are problematic for the entire recycling industry.
The cost of disposing of recyclable materials — especially glass — is taking a toll on many companies. In some cities like Chattanooga, recyclables are going to a landfill because MRFs are not equipped to handle glass. In other cities, the cost of throwing recyclables in the landfill is simply less expensive than recycling. The Muskingum County Recycling Center in Ohio is operating at a loss and is considering a new business model.