Toledo recycling: is the city paying too much?

The county recycled as much stuff for less money

This year, Toledo and Lucas County have recycled the same amount of trash. But the city has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars more to do it!

Earlier this week the mayor's office announced next year's budget deficit is $30 million. Some local leaders say the administration overpaid to recycle this year. We even discovered the recycling program was hours away from shutting down.

Pete Gerken, the president of the Lucas County commissioners, says the administration squandered taxpayer money with one crucial decision back in March.

The economic crisis had sent the market for recycled materials spiraling down. Prices fell so low, it was clear communities would have to pay to recycle.

So Gerken approached the city offering a partnership. "We said 'Let's just put a contract in place to get what's yours, mine, and ours in one place get the best price'."

Gerken sits on the board which operates the county's solid waste district. He says with the city's recyclables, the county could have negotiated a better price for everyone. And what did the city say in response? "We'll get back to you. That's a good idea, we'll get back to you," according to Gerken.

City officials don't recall the conversation. Gerken's frustrated with the results. The county has recycled 10,000 tons of paper, glass, and aluminum at a cost of $30,000 this year. The city recycled the same at a cost of $250,000, according to the administration.

The city's public service director Bill Franklin expressed surprise when we first showed him the numbers. But Franklin says the county's proposal wouldn't work.

The county needed to collect separated recycling and the city's trucks capable of doing that were broken. He says fixing them would have offset any savings from working with the county.

Instead he decided to pick up recycling in garbage trucks where it isn't separated and hope recycling prices improved. Mayor Carty Finkbeiner says his directors made the right call.

Councilman Michael Ashford, who chairs council's public utilities committee, says city council wasn't told about the city's losses or an opportunity to work with the county.

Franklin says he did report the facts to council. Ashford says the losses may be closer to half a million dollars.

The city charges an extra fee for trash pickup, but we discovered the administration even considered getting rid of recycling. Minutes from the Lucas County solid waste district's June meeting say the city is struggling to support and fund their program and is in a severe budget crisis at this time which has raised the question of whether they can fund the recycling program. View the Meeting Minutes: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3!

Gerken says that would have been disastrous and could have potentially cost taxpayers $1,000 a day in fines. It's an example of the flawed approach the city took this year, according to Gerken.

In the end, the recycling program continued. Truck repairs and extra labor represented an expense, but did taxpayers get the best deal? Both sides disagree.

And there's a chance companies will write off the rest of the money depending on contract negotiations happening now. It's a contract to determine how we handle recycling for the next five years. The city still hasn't decided whether to combine with the county or sell it independently.

Get more Local »

Environment, Toledo, I-Team, local

• Comment Now
• Email
• Print
• Report a typo
•