Dive Brief:

• Waste Management, Inc. was awarded the contract to handle Pitkin County, Colorado's recycling program.
• The county will transfer the operations of four recycling centers in four Colorado counties -- Aspen, Basalt, Redstone and Pitkin -- to Waste Management.
• ​The move to privatization is expected to save the county around $178,000 annually. The program has been operating at a loss of $350,000 in 2012.

Dive Insight:

The transition is expected to begin in February of 2014. County officials say that the switch will allow the staff at the Pitkin County Landfill to focus on other priorities, including food waste composting, e-waste recycling and the construction of a new facility that will accept municipal solid waste from septic tanks.