Last week, Winchester Municipal Utilities announced it suspended its recycling program in light of Lexington’s recent decision to no longer recycle paper products.

WMU sends its recyclables to Lexington’s materials recycling facility, so the change directly affected WMU’s recycling operations.

About 11 other communities were also affected by this change.

WMU is keeping its voluntary recycling center, 175 N. Maple St., open. The recycling center is open 24 hours per day, seven days per week; it is only accessible from the WMU North Maple Street entrance.

WMU will still recycle plastic screw top bottles and jugs, glass bottles and jars, aluminum and steel cans and dry cardboard from this lot.

WMU Interim General Manager Duke Dryden and other WMU officials spoke with The Sun to inform the public about the latest updates in regards to the suspended recycling program.

Winchester Sun: How was the decision made to suspend the recycling program?

WMU: When WMU Staff received the announcement from the Lexington Recycling Center late Tuesday afternoon they were suspending the recycling of paper products, staff began discussions with the WMU Commission chairman and other WMU commissioners.

Simply put, we were left with two choices: pay much higher rates and continue to send the recyclables to the LRC, or send it to the landfill ourselves and avoid the additional processing fees and landfill fees imposed by the LRC to cover the costs of those additional landfilled materials.

The decision was made Wednesday afternoon to suspend the WMU curbside recycling.

The voluntary recycling center has and will remain open, and we will still receive recyclables at that location.

WS: Why was the temporary suspension of the recycling program the best option?

WMU: The amount of materials that are delivered to the Lexington Recycling Center and deemed non-recyclable contamination — or the percentage of materials put into recycling bins that cannot be recycled and must go to the landfill — is estimated to be between 22 percent and 27 percent.

Once the recyclables are taken to the LRC, they sort the materials and sell the desirable commodities, and the remainder of the materials that cannot be recycled is then landfilled.

The landfill costs to process those non-recyclable materials have outweighed the revenues we received for the recycled materials that are sold.

Invoices paid to the LRC so far this fiscal year alone have totaled just over $20,000.

Recent statements from LRC Officials indicate the value for recyclable commodities is predicted to continue to diminish over the next few months.

On average, it is estimated the percentage of paper products that are collected and will now be landfilled is between 35 percent and 40 percent in addition to the materials that are already being landfilled.

The question then becomes, do we want to continue to run on a deficit and pay the additional processing fees for the material that will now be going to the landfill after it’s sorted at the LRC or do we want to avoid those costs and processing fees and landfill the material ourselves?

In consideration of those factors and as a result of the LRC decision to not accept any paper products, the decision was made that WMU would suspend its curbside recycling program.

WS: Will the blue curbits still be emptied? What can customers put in blue curbit? Can customers use both cans for trash now?

WMU: Yes, both the brown and blue curbits will be picked up on the regularly-scheduled day and may be utilized for all residential solid waste.

WS: Will WMU continue with the recent change of one pickup day?

WMU: Residential solid waste pick up will remain on the current schedule.

WS: Will there be a reduction in rates due to the suspension of the recycling program?

WMU: Residential solid waste rates will remain at the ordained rate. Current residential solid waste rates are primarily based upon the operation of the transfer station, the volume of refuse collected, transported and ultimately disposed of at a privately-owned and permitted solid waste landfill and not the number of collection days. Additionally, WMU collects and grinds yard waste for beneficial reuse, and maintains a 20-acre, non-operating landfill that is classified as in post-closure care.

WS: How long does WMU expect to have this program suspended?

WMU: The WMU Commission, along with staff, continues to evaluate the curbside recycling program.

In the meantime, WMU will continue to run and operate the voluntary Recycling Center located at our North Maple Street entrance where those recyclable materials can be sorted.

There are separate containers in place for cardboard, plastics, aluminum and steel cans.

Those facilities have been in place more than 20 years and will remain operational.

WS: Are there further plans to discuss this with the commission? When will the commission discuss this next?

WMU: The WMU Commission meets on the first and third Thursday of each month. As of (publication), there have been no items placed on the June 6 agenda or any subsequent agendas related to recycling.

A specific time is set aside at each meeting for comments from the general public to inform the WMU Commission of their views.

WS: Will the commission reconsider getting rid of curbside recycling?

WMU: The WMU Commission, along with staff, will continue to evaluate the curbside recycling program.

The market for recyclables has crashed over the past 18 months after the primary consumer — China — banned the import of some recyclables and tightened up its standards for how clean the recyclables need to be that it does import.