By Samuel Strait, Reporter at Large – March 23, 2021 It has been awhile since the Del Norte Solid Waste Management Authority(DNSWMA) has made an appearance in these pages, and it is no surprise it involves Recology wanting a rate hike. In a small, poor, rural County such as ours, recycling is both expensive and makes very little sense. DNSWMA's time would be better spent trying to exempt Del Norte County from the State's onerous recycling mandates. It has been a mere two years since Recology asked the Authority for a 6% rate hike and now they wish another 5% plus in some cases any where from 16.6% to 39.9% for customers who wish to have a larger recycling bin. Granted it is nice to see those that wish to recycle extensively pay for their desires. Unfortunately, those that just wish to have their refuse taken away as cheaply as possible end up paying as well. What makes curbside refuse disposal costly is the recycling side of the equation. Instead of simply collecting all refuse, recycling included, in one truck, then taking it to the transfer station to be compacted and taken to White City, recycling requires a second truck pick up, special handling and transportation. Because all recycling is placed in a single bin, sorting becomes necessary. Recycling is made up of a number of groups, and it is often necessary to transport them to different places. This all costs more money, which is seldom recovered when the finished recycling product is sold. In our particular case it can double the cost of disposal, something Recology has to consider, and as a result ask for increased rates when things like fuel costs increase and with the third of the minimum wage increases to account for increased labor costs. This problem will persist for the foreseeable future as labor will continue to rise in California at least and the future for rising fuel costs seems assured. It is understood that fewer customers would be willing to recycle if they had to separate recycling into separate bins, but it is one way to reduce costs and perhaps reduce the amount of trash in the recycling collection. Many county's use this method to keep costs down, but it has the side affect of reducing the over all amount of recycling collected. One other mechanism for reducing the pressure to recycle is to lobby the State for exemptions from Cal Recycle to allow more recycling in the trash to go to White City, a cheaper alternative. Rate payers with larger recycling bins will be quick to pick up on the increased cost and subsequently over all amounts of recycling will likely decline. Naturally there is always the argument that we will run out of land fill space, which was debunked many years ago, and has ended up being a very profitable enterprise for some rural counties with newly established land fills. Then there is the tried and true, "But we are saving the planet's resources," but at what cost? Many things collected to be recycled are never actually used to produce new products and instead end up back in the waste stream. This was especially true with recyclables sent to Southeast Asia and China. Up to 25% of those recyclables very often ended up in rivers and streams, or simply dumped back in the ocean. The trick is to make common sense changes at DNSWMA, which are unlikely to occur with the current Director and Commission. Bottom line, as recycling costs continue to rise, expect curbside and self haul costs to increase.