PETERSBURG — The Borough Assembly on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution supporting the Southeast Alaska Solid Waste Authority recommendation to participate in a regional scrap metal recycling system.
The approval fast tracks a financial plan that will organize a barge to come to Petersburg and pick up any scrap metal waste the community wants to dispose of, said Karl Hagerman, the Public Works director.
A five-year “master plan” agreement with Waste Management and SEASWA has formed in surrounding regions and Petersburg committed to it this week. The plan is a partnership with Waste Management, the largest solid waste company in the world, which will elicit vendors to transport a barge to Petersburg to accept disposable scrap metal for free.
“The resolution was to get support from the Assembly for the master agreement with Waste Management,” Hagerman said. “It was to get a commitment.”
Each community in the region will have a contract with Waste Management to bring a barge to the harbor so community members can dispose of their solid waste for free, which will likely happen in October or November, Hagerman said.
The timeline is unknown as the scrap metal market is always fluctuating. Hagerman said the project will start when the market is at $200 per ton.
Waste Management will not pay the Borough the $200 for a ton, as the expenses for the trip from Washington to Petersburg must be paid for. But if the market is at about $200, Hagerman said the Borough could make a profit while community members can avoid paying for scrap metal to be disposed at the dump.
“It’s the regional effort from SEASWA that is really driving it,” Hagerman said. “Every region has similar problems and one of them happens to be scrap metal.”
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