Recycling center no longer accepting glass, electronics

    Due to costs, the city of Imperial is no longer accepting glass or electronics at the recycling center.
    Jo Leyland, City Clerk/Administrator, said it was costing the city too much money to accept those items.
    Contracting a few months ago with an individual to buy the glass and electronics and transport the other recyclables did not pan out like they had hoped, she said.
    That transporter was taking everything but the glass and electronics to Western Resources Group in Ogallala, she noted.
    He was marketing the glass and electronics himself.
    “But, the transportation was eating us alive,” she said.
    For now, the city will return to its past practice with Leyland doing the contracting for recyclable sales and shipment.
    Electronic equipment was a new item the recycling center started taking just a month or two ago, but glass was an item the center has always accepted.
    Only centers in Denver and Kansas City take glass now, she noted. Although they were taking glass before, it was thrown out, she said. They had hoped to make it feasible to market glass somehow.
    It takes a lot of labor to recycle glass, but fairly easy to make new, she said.
    Leyland said they receive some payment for all of the recyclables they continue to take at the recycling center—aluminum, steel cans, newspaper, office paper, magazines, plastic and cardboard.
    One of the allures of the transporter they used recently was more regular stops to pick up the recyclables so the center was cleaned out more often, Leyland said.
    However, with a smaller gooseneck trailer he owned, it took more trips, adding to the transportation costs, she said.