The Four Corners Recycling Initiative in Montezuma County is running out of money.
Without additional revenue by November, the nonprofit won’t have the funds to pay for recycling bins in Mancos and Dolores to be emptied regularly, said Casey Simpson, organizer.
“All over the county, we are losing money on recycling,” Simpson said.
As commodity prices crashed with the price of oil, the amount the nonprofit was paying to empty recycling bins doubled, he said.
Some commodities prices follow the price of oil because when oil is expensive it makes sense to recycle materials in manufacturing, Simpson said.
Right now, it’s cheaper to manufacture fresh products, he said.
To cut costs, the nonprofit reduced pickups at the recycling bins from every week to every two weeks, leading to overflow.
To help cover costs of the recycling programs, the nonprofit is asking Montezuma County and the town governments of Mancos and Dolores to help pay for haulers to transport the recycling to the landfill.
The nonprofit has been relying on state and federal grants, local fundraising, corporate sponsorships and volunteer labor.
“I don’t think that’s a sustainable way of paying for waste management ” he said.
Because the markets are down, if FCRI ran out of money support for recycling in Dolores and Mancos, a private hauler would be unlikely to pick up the services right away because it is not profitable, Simpson said.
mshinn @durangoherald.com
