WARSAW — Business was kept short at the July 11 meeting of the Solid Waste Management District Board. Going into new director Tom Ganser’s second month, Ganser is slowly looking to improvements he sees for the KC Recycling Depot.

The largest change Ganser has made is a change in the Depot’s contracted recycling company. Thanks to a business connection, Ganser was able to secure a contract with Advanced Technology Recycling. The new contract will take electronic recycling costs from roughly $4,000 a load to $700. This price will be guaranteed through the end of the year when the Depot’s volume of outgoing electronics and recyclables will be reevaluated.

The change is an important one: after three months of free CRT TV recycling, the first time such a program has been attempted, the Depot has burned through 75 percent of its HHW budget. The cost comes from the number of truck-loads, which was averaging one truck-load per week. In all, over 170,000 pounds of electronics were collected from April through June.

“I’m expecting with this new contract we can stay within budget this year,” stated Ganser.

Ganser then suggested that later in the year the board should reevaluate prices for CRT TV and electronic recycling. The board jumped into conversation and approved a low cost of $5 per CRT TV regardless of size. With the new vendor contract, Ganser expects $5 to be sufficient to keep HHW collection within budget. The board further approved the possibility of temporary labor to help handle the potential volume of TVs.

Contact the Depot, (574) 372-3087, or go online for more information.

In other business:

• The board approved a roof repair. After the torrential rains the area has experienced, a leak in the roof has been found. Cost of repair will be around $400.
• Ganser wants to streamline the collection process and computerize the information.