GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – For a seventh straight year, the Tri-County Material Recovery Facility processed more recyclables in 2016 than it did the year prior.
Brown County Resource Recovery Development Manager Mark Walter says the facility, which primarily serves Brown, Outagamie, and Winnebago counties but also accepts contracted waste from nearby counties and outside parties, processed over 110,000 tons of recyclables last year, an increase of nearly 14,000 tons from 2015.
He says the numbers have increased each year since the 26,000 tons that were collected when the shift to a single stream recycling system took place in 2009.
While Brown and Winnebago counties both saw recycling increases last year and Outagamie County had a slight decrease, Walter says all three counties have had fairly level numbers over the past seven years.
However, Walter says the largest increase in materials processed in recent years has come from nearby counties.
In 2016, Walter says the Tri-County facility charged between $6.50-$20 per ton of recyclables processed, depending on the market. Upon being brought in, he says materials are sorted and then sold, with that money helping keep the plant in operation.
Looking ahead, Walter says officials hope to find additional ways to increase the efficiency of the machines that clean up glass that comes into the plant, in an effort to boost its resale value.
