Rivanna mulls cutting recycling center hours

The Rivanna Solid Waste Authority is considering closing the McIntire Recycling Center on Mondays to help absorb a decline in revenue.
“McIntire revenues are down because of the economy,” said Lonnie Wood, director of finance and administration for the authority. “The market prices for paper and metal are way down over last year.”

Wood said that though the center “is very busy all of the time,” Monday is one of the least busy days. The closed day would also give employees time to empty recycling containers, because the bins are often full by the end of weekends, he said.
The Rivanna Solid Waste Authority and the Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority will hold a public hearing on May 18, prior to approving their budgets. The Monday closing of the recycling center is included in the Solid Waste Authority’s budget proposal, and it would go into effect on July 1, if adopted.

Wood said that recycling revenues are projected to be down about 47 percent in fiscal 2010, compared with the budget adopted for the current fiscal year. He said that prices for materials used to make products such as newspapers, cans and cardboard have dropped significantly during the economic downturn.