City: More revenue needed before curbside recycling can begin
Las Vegas residents who wish to recycle materials like plastic bottles or newspapers must continue to haul these items to a recycling center for the foreseeable future.
While larger cities like Santa Fe and Albuquerque offer collection of recyclable material as part of regular solid waste pickup, it seems for now, this type of program will not be adopted by the City of Las Vegas.
“City Utilities would like to offer curbside (recycling) if and when the revenues can cover the expenditures,” Utilities Director Maria Gilvarry told the Optic via email. “At the moment, the amount companies pay for some recyclables is down. For plastics, currently, it is down to zero.”
Gilvarry also cited a recent Chinese ban on accepting other country’s waste. Prior to the January 1, 2018 ban, many U.S. cities with recycling programs shipped recyclable materials to processing plants in China.
As part of an antipollution campaign, the Chinese government tightened standards on the types of materials the country will accept, and most of what ends up in American’s recycling bins doesn’t meet those new standards.
“With a reduction in revenues and limits of what can be recycled, the curbside plan needs to be reevaluated to ensure the expenses can be covered,” Gilvarry said.
But China’s ban is only part of the reason Las Vegas doesn’t offer a curbside recycling program. According to Gilvarry, in order for the city to offer such a program, the city would need a new vehicle and a driver for that vehicle.
In order to cover those expenses, the recycling program would need to generate enough revenue to pay for itself.
“We do offer recycling at the transfer station,” Gilvarry said. “When there are special items, our recycling specialist can assess the item and determine if it is recyclable and the value.”
The City of Las Vegas Transfer Station is located at 35 Aragon Road. It is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to noon, and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday from 9 a.m. until noon.
According to the city’s website, the recycling center accepts most plastic bottles, aluminum and tin cans, corrugated cardboard, paper bags, junk mail, newspapers and magazines.
Gilvarry said the recycling drop-off center at the Abe Montoya Recreation Center was closed due to misuse of the bins.
“People would contaminate it with general trash and waste making the material unrecyclable,” Gilvarry said.
New Mexico Highland University also operates a recycling center. It is located on Raynolds Ave., behind the John A. Wilson Complex. The center is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
