WARSAW — The Kosciusko County Recyling Depot could be entering into an agreement for a new hauler by next year. If the current hauler stays on, the county will likely see a rate hike to have recyclables hauled away.

According to Kosciusko County Solid Waste Management District Director Tom Ganser, the depot’s current hauler, Borden Waste-Away Service Inc of Elkhart initially offered to extend the current contract, which included keeping the per-ton fee at its current rate. The company changed its mind before the district could accept.

“They came back with a notice that they would like to decline the extension for the recycle contract for 2020,” Ganser told the KCSWMD board of directors at the panel’s monthly meeting Tuesday, May 14. “Since there was nothing signed, we’re going back out to bid. What we talked about before is that the per-ton rate, which is at $58.20, according to them, needs to look somewhere between $110 and $130 per ton. They’re not going to renew the contract for 2020.”

Board member Scott Reust told the board the district could likely have extended the current contract at the current rate, had the initial offer been jumped on quickly.

“They made what was somewhat of an offer and I’m not sure we adequately conveyed our acceptance,” Reust said. “They made an offer and then realized it was not equitable to do it. Upon notifying them that we wanted to accept their offer, they said ‘we are no longer making that offer.’”

The board also heard that the county’s recycling depot will be the host location for the June monthly meeting of the Indiana Household Hazardous Waste Task Force on June 5.