Manager: curbside recycling may cost extra $2-$3 per month

Bryant also spelled out differences in how Jefferson, which charges 25 cents less per month for garbage pickup than Commerce, supports its recycling program.

“They supplement (garbage pickup) the additional costs with ad valorem taxes,” said Bryant, who indicated he’d consulted Jefferson city manager John Ward on that city’s program. He said Ward promised to get back in touch with him about how much Jefferson revenue goes to supplement the cost of garbage service.

According to Bryant, Waste Management offered four alternatives for recycling programs, but he did not spell out the specifics because the information “does not have the cost on some elements.”

“It depends on how you take it,” said Bryant of the cost of recycling. If the city intends to receive revenue for recycling, the cost of collecting it is higher, he said.

“If you want to get paid for it, you’ve got to separate it.”

Hill pointed out that most recycling efforts are taking a “single-stream” approach, which actually involves two streams — paper in one and everything else in a second, with the company doing further separation.

“Manned stations, I think, are a thing of the past,” he said, in an apparent reference to one of Waste Management’s alternatives.

The council agreed to wait until Bryant had more details on potential costs.

“Until we get a cost on it, there’s no use in looking at it,” said Ward 3 councilman Mark Fitzpatrick.

“Until the economy picks up, just keep looking,” advised mayor pro tem Keith Burchett.

Hill, who as chairman of the Downtown Development Authority, has been promoting starting a recycling program, was not deterred.

“If we’re going to be seen as a progressive city, we’ve got to be moving toward recycling,” he told the council. He added that Ward told him that many businesses looking at Jefferson ask about whether the city has recycling services.