After the new center is completed, Hays will be able to process paper itself, which is about 85 percent of material collected. Other materials will continue to be shipped out. By processing paper, we can market that product to paper mills directly. They want quality, and they want it in a form they can handle, that being in a bale. Cary said managing solid waste will be the challenge in the future, and trying to make a five-year forecast is almost impossible because of how quickly changes take place in the industry.
Solid waste is just a real strange industry.
Looking at a five-year picture is like long term. He said there has been some interest expressed in commercial recycling, but the program is not ready to handle that yet. The city provides trash service to single-family and some multifamily residences, but larger apartment complexes and businesses must contract with private companies. Hammerschmidt said the residential market first must become more efficient before new markets can be considered. Some things to make it happen will be the interest of the businesses, interest of the commercial hauler, the ability for us to even handle it, and the desire of the commission to go that direction.