Mount Holly, North Carolina will no longer provide curbside recycling pick up services effective July 1.
The Mount Holly City Council made the difficult decision to suspend the city’s contracted recycling program. The City Council unanimously rejected a proposal that would have increased recycling rates for residential customers by 87 percent for the upcoming fiscal year. Currently, residents who live within city limits are charged $5.18 per month for bi-monthly curbside recycling pick-up services. Under the proposed one-year agreement, costs would have increased to $9.71 monthly.
The proposed rate hike presented an unsustainable financial burden on the city’s budget and the city’s residents, prompting the city council to seek more cost-effective alternatives. During the session, council members discussed the implications of the proposed increased rates and concluded that suspending the recycling program was the most prudent course of action at the current time.
Effective immediately, the city will no longer provide curbside recycling pick-up services, and residents are encouraged to take their recycling to the Riverbend Recycling Center.
Due to a change in the market in 2018, curbside recycling programs began to experience instability and a decrease in the demand for recyclable materials. Prior to 2018, a third of the scrap recycled in the U.S. was exported, and China was the biggest buyer. However, China began insisting on higher-quality recyclables after bales were riddled with contaminants. These changes due to contamination in the industry have made recycling less profitable. Nearby cities including Gastonia, Shelby, Kings Mountain, and Bessemer City all have recently ended curbside recycling efforts for similar reasons.
The city will not be collecting the blue recycling cans at this time, and residents should retain these roll-outs until further notice.