Instead of paying someone to take recyclables off its hands, New Hanover County may soon be making money on the deal. The county commissioners approved an agreement Monday that paves the way for a South Carolina company to set up a recycling facility in the shuttered WASTEC plant.
Under the agreement, Sonoco, a global packaging company based in South Carolina, would pay New Hanover County $10 per ton for mixed recyclables and $35 less than the market rate for cardboard. The current market rate is $85 per ton.
That payment is in lieu of charging Sonoco to use the plant, which formerly garbage to generate electricity.
Environmental Management Director Joe Suleyman said the county will come out $140,000 ahead. The current recycling contract was coming due for renegotiation, and the current vendor wanted $20 per ton — double than the $10 per ton the county had been paying — to renew it, Suleyman told the board of commissioners.
Monday, the commissioners approved an agreement with the city of Wilmington to send all of the city’s recyclables to the old WASTEC plant off U.S. 421 north of the city. The city will pay $10 per ton to deliver its recyclables.
Together, the city and county generate about 14,000 tons of recyclable materials annually. The Sunoco-run facility eventually will be able to handle 25,000 tons annually. That leaves open the possibility for other communities in the Cape Fear region to use the facility, Suleyman said.
Recycled materials make up a small percentage of what New Hanover County residents and businesses throw away annually. The Environmental Management Department disposes of more than 200,000 tons each year.
Residents of the unincorporated area who use one of the seven centers around the county will notice some difference. They will need to place glass bottles and jars in a separate bin at the convenience sites. Residents already separate cardboard, but Sonoco will not pay for glass bottles, Suleyman said.
Other recyclable materials, such as plastic, aluminum cans and paper, will not need to be sorted.
email Tricia Vance at [email protected].
