Facility already cut back days and hours of operation

By Lauren Brown
Burns Times-Herald

The future of recycling in Harney County is in question as the 4R Recycle Center may close its doors at the end of the month.

4R facility manager Wayne Baron said the last day of operation will be March 28. He has had to cut his days of operation from six to three per week. Currently, the facility is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.

Baron said that it costs about $8,500 per month to run the facility and currently, there is no market for recycling. The economic downturn has affected the recycling industry drastically. Material that used to fetch $400 per ton has dropped to $40, and that has happened across the board from plastic to cardboard to paper. Baron said that metal still has value, and he can likely scrape together about $2,000 per month by recycling metal.

“I’m grabbing at everything I can possibly think of,” Baron said of his attempts to keep the facility open. “I’ve spent hours on the Internet searching for grants or loans.”

Harney County Judge Steve Grasty brought up the subject at the March 4 county court meeting. Burns Mayor Len Vohs, who was in attendance at the meeting, said that he and Burns City Manager Don Munkers met with Baron to discuss other options, which may or may not prolong the life of the business.

Grasty said that in the current market recycling cannot be done for free.

C&B Sanitary Service is the only other business that offers recycling of  items, which include cardboard, newspaper, e-waste, ferrous and non-ferrous metals and motor oil.

There will be a meeting on March 17 at the courthouse to discuss the future of recycling in Harney County. “If we can figure out a way to do it (keep the center open), I think I can hear all of us say, let’s do it,” Grasty said.