News Release
The Patagonia Recycling Task Force has announced that it will suspend monthly collections of glass and cardboard effective in October.
For nearly two years, the task force had been collecting the two commodities on the fourth Saturday of the month, alternating between the two recyclables. However, the group recently decided to stop those collections, at least for a few months, to remove the possibility that the collections are working against the new subscription-based curbside recycling service provided by Recyclops.
While he expressed regret for having to take this step, task force chair Bob Brandt said it is the prudent thing to do considering that Recyclops, nearly a year after rolling out their service in Patagonia, still has not reached the minimum number of sign-ups to make this market financially viable. At its September cardboard event the group found that about half the volume collected was from residents of the Patagonia area and half from areas not served by Recyclops.
Brandt said the task force also has been concerned about the net benefit gained from the collections given the carbon cost of getting volunteers and vehicles to the collection site and delivering the glass and cardboard to Tucson and Nogales, respectively. Another factor in the decision to suspend monthly collections was that cardboard can now be recycled at the Sonoita-Elgin landfill.
Suspending the monthly collections is part of the task force’s plan to promote Recyclops subscriptions with flyers and personal contacts in an effort to keep Recyclops from pulling the plug on its curbside collection service here.
