Space is at premium at the Jaffrey Transfer Station/Recycling Center these days, as the town stockpiles scrap metal, waiting for recycling prices to go back up.
“We’re sort of running out of space down here, so eventually we’re going to have to give up,” said Janet “Peachie” Chalke, transfer station supervisor. “It’s like playing the stock market: You never know what the prices are going to be.”
The market for recyclables is down, noted Randy Heglin, Jaffrey’s director of public works. “The price of raw materials has dropped as well,” he said, noting it is currently cheaper to use virgin materials in some cases than it is to use recyclables.
Jaffrey’s recycling revenues have fluctuated wildly in the last three years – 2013: $27,00; 2014: $33,767; and 2015: $13,634 – but part of that reflects the fact that the Transfer Station has been stock piling, waiting for prices to go up and/or for a full load, said Heglin.
Scrap metal was last sent out in March 2015.
“Fortunately, we got some real estate to be able to do that,” said Heglin.
Michael Durfor, executive director of the nonprofit Northeast Resource Recovery Association, said the recycling market has been in turmoil since 2011.
“I believe they’ll come back,” he said, noting that the current low price for oil is depressing the market for recyclables.
Scrap metal was worth more than $200 a gross ton in its heyday; now, it gets $73 to $90 a ton, according to Durfor.
For Jaffrey, the important thing is the cost the town avoids in landfill fees by recycling, Heglin noted.
Jaffrey saved more than $15,000 in landfill fees by recycling in 2015.
“The more effectively residents recycle … it reduces the amount of tonnage we send to a landfill,” he said. “Every ton the town recycles saves $87.50 in landfill costs.”
Dublin Transfer Station Superintendent Tom Kennedy echoed that, saying “[Recycling is] still cheaper than throwing it in the compactor, so you’re still ahead of the game.”
In percentages, 30 to 38 percent of Jaffrey’s waste stream is recycled.
“I think we could do better,” Heglin said, adding that Transfer Station staff is working to help people recycle more. “Recycling is mandatory [here], has been for quite some time.”
The Jaffrey Board of Selectmen has appointed an ad-hoc committee to look at how to improve rates of recycling and efficiencies at the Transfer Station, all with the goal of controlling costs, Heglin said.
A long-range improvement plan is to be presented in the fall with the committee’s findings.