Update, February 1, 2020
At their February 5, 2020 meeting, Nags Head’s Board of Commissioners will discuss possible changes to the Town’s recycling contract with Bay Disposal.
In a January 7, 2020 meeting, Bay Disposal of Norfolk, Virginia said that Nags Head’s recyclables were being transported to a waste-to-energy facility in Portsmouth, Virginia. There, the waste is used as a local fuel to generate renewable electricity for a utility. In addition, this facility also provides steam to help meet the needs of the U.S. Navy’s shipyard in Norfolk, Virginia.
The Town’s contract with Bay Disposal, LLC., in Norfolk, VA, effective from May 1, 2019 until December 1, 2022, expressly stipulates that no more than 10% by weight of all collected recyclable materials is to be taken to the landfill and/or incinerated without the Town’s permission.
As seen in the news over the last few years, the market for recyclables has been negatively impacted by China’s decision to stop taking America’s recyclables. Local governments throughout the United States are revisiting, and sometimes suspending, their recycling programs due to exorbitant cost increases.The Town has been working diligently to explore possible solutions to the issue, while balancing the use of taxpayer resources and providing a services that contributes to environmental protection.
Declining market value for recyclables, as well as contamination of the recycling stream, are two challenges that the Town’s curbside recycling service faces.
Many recyclables collected through the curbside recycling program have no value in the current recycling market, and when coupled with improper contaminants introduced to the recycling stream – examples include plastic bags, take-out containers and cups, batteries, metal hangers, diapers and other non-recyclable garbage – the cost to process the materials collected increases significantly, while much of the non-recyclable materials find their way into landfills or waste-to-energy plants.
We encourage you to learn what you can and cannot recycle, and to always only place recyclable items into your blue carts or communal recycling containers and dumpsters.
The February 5, 2020 meeting starts at 9 am at the Board of Commissioners Room at Nags Head’s municipal campus at 5401 S. Croatan Highway. At this time, the recycling discussion is scheduled to take place later in the meeting.
January 13, 2020 - The Town of Nags Head is in discussions with its residential recycling hauler after being notified by the company that they are not fully abiding by the contract they have with the Town.
In a January 7, 2020 meeting, Bay Disposal of Norfolk, Virginia said that Nags Head’s recyclables are being transported to a waste-to-energy facility in Portsmouth, Virginia. There, the waste is used as a local fuel to generate renewable electricity for a utility. In addition, this facility also provides steam to help meet the needs of the U.S. Navy’s shipyard in Norfolk, Virginia.
The Town’s contract with Bay Disposal, LLC., in Norfolk, VA, effective from May 1, 2019 until December 1, 2022, expressly stipulates that no more than 10% by weight of all collected recyclable materials is to be taken to the landfill and/or incinerated without the Town’s permission.
As seen in the news over the last few years, the market for recyclables has been negatively impacted by China’s decision to stop taking America’s recyclables. Local governments throughout the United States are revisiting, and sometimes suspending, their recycling programs due to exorbitant cost increases.
“While we understand that the market for recyclables has been negatively impacted by China, Bay Disposal, unfortunately, is not disposing of our recyclables according to our contract with them,” said Nags Head Town Manager Cliff Ogburn. “They have made a good faith effort to notify us of this change and we are working together on a solution that our Board of Commissioners can consider. The challenge for us is that there are limited options for the entire Outer Banks when it comes to recycling haulers. When we originally rolled out the curbside residential recycling program in 2016, we were being paid for the material. Then, we started paying $10/ton and today we pay $70/ton because it is so difficult to find an organization that will purchase the material. At what price point does it become too expensive to continue this service?”
For more information, contact Town Manager Cliff Ogburn at Cliff.Ogburn@nagsheadnc.gov or 252-441-5508.