Johnson City, TN Solid Waste Officials Hope for Recycling Rebound

SEATTLE (Waste Advantage): Despite market fluctuations and other operating challenges, Tennessee’s oldest curbside recycling — and the only one left in Northeast Tennessee — is in no danger of shutting down. “We’re making it happen because we believe the residents of Johnson City want curbside recycling — they like the program,” said Johnson City Solid Waste Manager Hal Crawford.

Coming off a year that saw Kingsport and Jonesborough both permanently shutter their curbside programs, Johnson City is reaching the 35-year mark with a fairly uncommon model, but one that has helped the city get annual revenues by selling its recyclables. Unlike the “single stream” model that Kingsport used until suspending its program in 2020, Johnson City staffers separate households’ recyclables at the curbside.

“We get a premium price for our product because it’s sorted at the curb and it’s not mixed and contaminated like a lot of single stream programs,” Crawford said from his New Street conference room. Nearby, a piece of heavy equipment was prepping corrugated cardboard for baling, while inside a huge shed-like building, more bales of cardboard, plastic, mixed paper and aluminum sat awaiting transport to the recyclers that buy them, helping offset the program’s cost.

Courtesy: www.wasteadvantage.com