Tom Hogan, waste reduction and recycling specialist at the city recycling division's North Lawrence processing facility, moves bundles of cardboard Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2008. .For two weeks this month, the city could find no buyers for the recycled cardboard the city collects from businesses and residences. City leaders are concerned the economic crisis is putting a dent in the

Talk about a market that has turned to junk.

City leaders are becoming increasingly concerned that the global economic crisis will put a dent in the city’s recycling operations, as demand from corporations who purchase recycled cardboard, paper and other materials to make new products has all but disintegrated.

For two weeks this month, the city could find no one to buy the recycled cardboard the city collects from residents and businesses. The city still cannot find a buyer for mixed paper products, which includes everything from magazines to cereal boxes.

The lack of buyers can become a problem in a hurry, given that the city collects about 40 tons of materials each week through drop box locations and its business collection program. Thus far, the city has been storing the material in the recycling division’s North Lawrence processing facility.

“It is starting to get a little bit tight out here,” Kathy Richardson, operations supervisor of the city’s recycling program, said of the warehouse space.

Making tough decisions

The city has begun preparing an area to store materials outside because industry leaders have said the recycling market may be in malaise for at least seven to eight months.

The city won’t be able to store materials for that long, which could lead to changes in how the city collects recycling.

“When you run out of space to store it, you have to make some tough decisions,” Richardson said. “I can tell you what we don’t want to do at all is take it to the landfill. We want to keep this material out of the landfill.”

Richardson said the city could start paying brokers to take the recycled materials from the city, but with a tight budget that is only feasible to a point. Another option could be that the city would stop collecting certain types of materials, such as mixed paper.

“I joked at an agenda meeting that we might all have to start taking cardboard home,” City Manager David Corliss said. “It is not a good situation right now.”

Prices dropping

It is particularly a tough time for private businesses in the recycling market. When buyers can be found, the prices they’re willing to pay for recycled goods are dramatically lower than just a few months ago. In September, the market for cardboard was $115 per ton. Now, when you can find a buyer, prices are about $20 a ton. Mixed waste paper has dropped from $85 a ton to essentially no value.

Metal prices — even copper, which once was so expensive that it was frequently being stolen from air conditioners — have plummeted. Copper prices have dropped to 85 cents a pound, down from a high of about $2.20 per pound.

“The metal prices are just dropping every day,” said Lisa Schmitt of Lonnie’s Recycling in North Lawrence, which buys material from the public and then tries to sell it to brokers.

The metal market, she said, is highly dependent on the auto industry, which is suffering through its worst period ever. “I think it all will get worse until manufacturing starts to pick back up again.”

Contract talk

Thus far, Lawrence’s Wal-Mart recycling center has not reported problems because it has a contract with a broker that purchases all the center’s materials.

Richardson said the city is looking to sign a contract with a recycling broker as well. The city in the past has been reluctant to do so because a contract locks in a price the city will receive for its recycled goods. Before the economic downturn, the city had success in playing the market and selling its recycled material to the highest bidder.

Prior to the downturn, the city had collected about $230,000 this year from the sale of recycled materials. That was an increase of about 12 percent from the same period — January through November — in 2007.

Richardson said she’s optimistic the city will be able to secure a contract from a broker, which should allow the city to keep accepting recycled materials from residents.

That hasn’t been the case everywhere. Within the last month, communities in West Virginia and Pennsylvania suspended parts of their recycling programs.

Other such cuts may be on the way, which has Richardson concerned that the nation’s recycling push may lose momentum.

“There is a concern that a lot of the newer recycling programs are hurting,” Richardson said. “What it seems like nationwide is that a lot of programs are stopping collection for a time period or closing down their doors for good.”