County to outsource recycling

FINDLAY — Final details still need to be set, but Hancock County will be outsourcing the Litter Landing recycling operation to Rumpke Waste & Recycling. The County Solid Waste Management District Policy Board, which oversees Litter Landing and the county landfill, made the decision this week with the recommendation of the county commissioners. The commissioners will next be working out further details with Rumpke before implementing the program, Commissioner Michael Pepple said. Rumpke was the only company to respond last month when the commissioners sought bids from companies to handle the recycling operation. The county has had difficulties keeping Litter Landing adequately staffed. That problem would get magnified if the county takes the expensive step of building a new recycling center on a more spacious site, Pepple said. The existing Litter Landing site on East Sandusky Street is landlocked and short on space for other programs in demand, such as household hazardous waste and tire collections. Rumpke has offered to pick up recyclables from collection stations around the county for $35.36 per tip, or per pick up, from one of the 16 stations around the county. Litter Landing would likely remain open as a station for people to leave recyclables. Rumpke estimated that it would do 85 tips per week. That would mean that over the course of a year, it could be paid about $156,291. Rumpke's fees would be paid out of the Hancock County Landfill tier fee fund, which is the funding source for Litter Landing. At a preliminary glance, outsourcing to Rumpke would cost less than operating Litter Landing, the commissioners have said. There are currently 16 collection stations for recyclables around the county. That number could be increased to 21 to 25, so some people would find a collection station closer to their home than currently. Rumpke would take the recyclables to a transfer station in Lima for compacting before shipping them to Columbus for sorting, said Blake Austin, municipal sales specialist for Rumpke. The recyclable materials would then go to end users, he said. Rumpke offers a similar service in Crawford and Wood counties, he said.