Iola City Council members offered up more questions than answers when approached Monday about a joint recycling venture with Allen County.
The Council visited Monday with Janie Works of Allen County Recycling, a small group of volunteers that collects from businesses in the area, and oversees a depository in the old Thompson Poultry plant on the east edge of town.
Works requested, at the behest of Allen County commissioners, that Iola and Allen County join forces to provide a part-time employee to oversee cardboard collections for a 90-day trial period.
While Council members were largely supportive of recycling in general, they were hesitant to sign on to the request.
Councilwoman Joelle Shallah asked if the recycling group had considered other options, such as utilizing low-risk Allen County Jail inmates to haul totes filled with cardboard boxes to the recycling center, or if Allen County Recycling has applied for grants to fund staffers.
If a city employee is used, would city equipment also be necessary, Mayor Steve French wondered. “It’s not like we have spare trucks lying around,” he said.
Likewise, Councilwoman Kim Peterson asked if the recycling group had approached the businesses who benefit from the cardboard recycling to see if they’d be willing to pay a monthly stipend for the service.
“I’d love to see Allen County take the initiative and have the city follow in the path behind them,” Shallah concluded, while noting other cities like Humboldt, LaHarpe and Moran should also be approached to help.
Works, in response to the questions, noted that Allen County Recycling had applied for some grants, and called the request for inmates “a great idea,” noting it had been discussed previously.
She also noted the cardboard can be sold when prices are up, say $175 a ton.
But as has been the case recently, cardboard fetches only a fraction of that amount today, to the point that any sales go right back into a fund for equipment maintenance. So for the most part, the group allows the cardboard and other materials to accumulate before they’re transported when prices are up.
City Administrator Matt Rehder said any city participation would need to be “thoroughly studied” before any commitment is offered.
There are other barriers to consider as well, Councilman Nickolas Kinder offered. For one, the city does not offer trash service to commercial businesses, yet the bulk of the cardboard would almost certainly come from businesses.
And while the recycling venture is popular for businesses now, their participation will likely drop if it were to come at a cost, he added.
Finally, French noted having Iola funds directed to recycling could be considered unfair because the county operates the landfill as a moneymaker by charging out-of-county users a fee.
