County Facility Affected By Crisis In Recycling Market

Ste. Genevieve County was ahead of the curve when it jumped into recycling in the late 1990s. Those were good days to be in the recyclables business.

Today isn’t such a good time to be dealing with recycled goods. Ste. Genevieve County, however, is still committed to recycling.

“We have had a lot of financial issues this year due to the very, very poor status of the market for our commodities,” said Brenda Stuppy, director of Ste. Genevieve Industries/Sheltered Workshop. “As a matter of fact there are a lot of recycling centers closing due to the downed [recycling] economy. Some have closed, some have started refusing certain commodities, but with every commodity within the recycling industry right now, prices are down. I don’t care if it’s aluminum, steel, plastics, papers — all the commodities are down.

“I think mainly due to the fact that China is no longer buying our commodities, which has created a huge glut in the supply.”

Materials that used to be easy to move now sit piled up in the center.

“There are some commodities that basically have no value anymore,” Stuppy said. “I’ve talked to the commissioners about this situation and they reassure me every time I talk to them that they’re still committed 100 percent to keep our facility open and to be good stewards of the environment and to provide a service to the city and county of Ste. Genevieve.”

Complete story in the October 9 edition of the Herald.

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