It’s been a little more than three years since Flagstaff’s recycling contractor abruptly walked away from its operations here, leaving the city scrambling to find a new solution. For residents, the disruption was brief: city trucks began picking up bins at the curbside about a week after the company’s surprise exit.
But for the Solid Waste Section, the challenges of the transition aren’t completely over yet. The Arizona Daily Sun spoke to Solid Waste director Sam Beckett in late May about current operations at the former Norton Environmental building, market conditions for recyclables, and the recent change in glass collection.
The old recycling line once used by Norton Environmental sits in an inoperable state at the City of Flagstaff’s recycling transfer station on Butler Avenue. The machinery was last used in early 2023 before the city took over recycling operations.
Adam Mendoza, a temporary worker for the City of Flagstaff, sweeps the compactor area at the recycling transfer center on Butler Avenue.
Mixed recyclable material sit in a pile in a corner of the City of Flagstaff’s recycling transfer station on Butler Avenue on Thursday morning.
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