Citing cost and the availability of cheap space at the landfill in which to bury toxic materials, Casper City Council voted on Tuesday to effectively end its legally mandated electronic waste recycling program.

Council rejected a five-year contract with Electronic Recyclers International, based in Aurora, Colorado, despite a city ordinance passed in 2009 that bars Casper from dumping electronic waste in its landfill.

It probably started as a feel-good measure, said councilman Chris Walsh. If we stop, it can go in our lined landfill.

Electronics can contain lead, chromium, cadmium, mercury, beryllium, nickel, zinc and brominated flame retardants, the website states. When electronics are not disposed of or recycled properly, these toxic materials can present problems.

Walsh and other council members cited the annual $57,400 cost of the five-year contract, despite solid waste division manager Cynthia Langstons clarification that the city would pay that amount only under the worst-case scenario.

It looks to me like were spending $57,000 on a measure thats more politically correct than it is necessary for us, Walsh said. Over the term of this contract, were going to save a quarter million dollars.

Langston had clarified at councils pre-meeting that the actual payment would likely be around $25,000 per year.

She said that dumping electronics in the citys landfill instead would cost $10,000 to $15,000 per year.

In an interview Wednesday, Langston said that she had miscalculated and the cost would be closer to $4,000 per year to dispose of electronics in the landfill, meaning the city would save about $20,000 per year by rejecting the contract.

Council members did not have the information when they voted against the agreement.

At the pre-meeting, Walsh said he was prepared to take what he saw as the politically unpopular position of opposing recycling.

Nobody wants to say that, he said. I say smash it with a bulldozer.

Langston also said that the recycling programs cost was already covered by the approximately $28,000 in annual fees paid by residents earmarked for recycling electronics.

Ending the program will also affect other cities, like Rawlins, which pay Casper to dispose of their residents trash and recyclables.

Councilman Charlie Powell said that while he supported recycling in theory, it was better for Casper to use its landfill rather than truck the electronics to Colorado.

We have enough land to run the landfill for another 1,000 years, Powell said. We can bury a lot of trash in Casper.

Walsh also said that because not all of the electronics that would be shipped to Colorado could be recycled, he would prefer they go into the local landfill.

Langston told council that some parts of certain electronics, like wood panels on old stereo systems, had to be thrown away. But she said 96 percent of the waste would be recycled.

Langston said city residents had demanded an electronics recycling program in the early 2000s after the issue of children picking toxic materials out of old American computers and cellphones in developing countries gained national attention.

You saw the little kids and they were melting the electronics and it was really bad for the environment, she said.

Still, Langston said cutting the program would be an easy way to save money during a budget crunch.

At a time when you want to cut budgets, recycling is what you should cut first, she said.

Walsh speculated that since Casper residents paid a 12-cent monthly fee for the recycling program as part of their utility bill, the city might be able to pass a rate decrease if it began dumping the electronics in its landfill.

Langston said that since the council banned dumping electronic waste in the landfill in 2009, a local organization that helps people with disabilities had recycled the electronics at a discount as a way to provide jobs for that population.

But Northwest Community Action Programs of Wyoming lost several hundred thousand dollars in federal funding this year and was forced to end its recycling program a few weeks ago.

Mayor Kenyne Humphrey asked whether councils rejection of the contract would disrupt operations at the solid waste facility given the citys existing ban on putting electronics in the landfill.

City attorney Bill Luben pointed out that council would need to vote three times to repeal the ordinance. He said council could temporarily approve the contract since it could be cancelled at no charge with 30 days notice.

If you dont move forward with this, Im not sure what the timing is for items to build up, Luben said.

Langston said if her facility filled up, she would ask city manager V.H. McDonald to landfill some of it, despite the ban on doing so.

She acknowledged in an interview that McDonald would be violating city law by allowing her to do that and said he could also instruct her to store the waste in public storage space around Casper.

Langston said the facility would likely reach capacity in the next three to four weeks.

The soonest the ordinance could be repealed would be March 21.

Langston said that according to the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, the 80 tons of electronics waste the city receives each year could be placed in Caspers lined landfill, which has a physical barrier between the pit and the ground so that toxic materials do not drain directly into the North Platte River watershed.

Powell said the 80 annual tons was a tiny fraction of the 400 tons of waste the landfill collects per day.

The $20,000 the city is likely to save by cancelling the electronics waste program makes up .002 percent of the the sanitation divisions roughly $11 million annual budget.

Council members rejected a motion by councilman Jesse Morgan to postpone a vote on the contract until city staff could explore other, less expensive options for safely disposing of electronics.

I dont think well gain much information that would change anybodys mind, said councilman Bob Hopkins. This is just not a winner.

Langston clarified on Wednesday that she was personally in favor of the recycling program, which she noted was initially advocated for by local residents.

If they really want it, they need to tell their council people, Langston said. We absolutely cover the cost [of the program] through that 12 cents per month charge to citizens. We can do it thats not the issue.

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Slamming 'political correctness,' Casper scraps recycling program ... - Casper Star-Tribune Online