Break-in and lower prices hurt Recycling Center

Nevada Daily Mail

Already struggling with too few employees and the cold weather while waiting for heaters to be installed, the recycling center took another hit when someone broke into the center early last week, stealing copper and tools -- some owned by the employees -- and damaging the center.

"I've never heard of someone breaking into a recycling center," recycling director Dave Irwin said of the break-in, adding that they were most likely looking for items to sell.

The offender broke into the office, pulling out and emptying drawers while taking items such as batteries and chargers. They also broke into the shop area and got into the center's truck, going through the glove box.

Det. Sgt. Steve Bastow, of the Nevada Police Department, said the case is moving forward slowly as they check that night's video from the recycling center and surrounding locations and follow-up with people on possible suspects.

Bastow said it is their hope that a witness or video will narrow the search and lead them to the offender.

On Tuesday, a week after the break-in, the county commission met with Jason Stark of Services Recycling to go over the current prices for recyclables, which have dropped over recent months, and the payment plan between the county and the company that takes the recyclable items.

Just recently, the county received the checks from Services Recycling for the months of July through December 2014.

"There's no excuse for that," Stark said of the late payments, explaining it was a result of a change in staff during that time. "We should have that problem fixed."

With the new staff in position, Stark said they do not plan on getting behind in those payments this year.

Because of the drop in the value of recyclable items such as cardboard and plastic bags, the county will be receiving less money for the tons of recyclables picked up each week.

In the summer of 2014, a ton of cardboard was worth about $100. But currently it only brings in about $60 per ton. Plastic sacks also went down from $15 per ton to $0 and paper from $25 to $20. The worth of glass remained the same at $25 for clear glass and $12.50 for each ton of mixed glass.

"This is definitely going to be a concern," Irwin said. "There's not a great deal of money in recycling to begin with."

Stark says the price usually goes down during those months and hopes it will start to rise again by February.

The new county budget included the funding to make one employee a full-time worker instead of part-time and add an additional part-time employee to help the recycling center continue to provide service to the county.

Most of the recycling center however is funded by grants based on the accomplishments of the center in recycling items instead of adding it to the waste stream. In 2013, the county recycled about 300 tons of those items, keeping it out of the landfill. The goal for 2014 was to raise that to 350 tons. The exact amount collected in 2014 is not yet available.

The county continues to collect large amounts of recyclables, especially cardboard Irwin says, which takes at least two days to collect each week.

"Right now we're going strong," northern commissioner Neal Gerster said.