FORT SMITH -- The city hasn't recycled any of its recyclable waste since June or July, contrary to the six months officials have been telling residents, Deputy Administrator Jeff Dingman said Thursday.
Dingman said he had been told by Sanitation Director Mark Schlievert that Fort Smith recycled waste put out by citizens for recycling until November, when Green Source Recycling of Clarksville refused to accept any more material from Fort Smith.
After checking records, Dingman said it was determined that the last tonnage of recyclable material was taken to Green Source in June or July, 10 months ago.
Dingman apologized for giving out the false information.
Dingman said he checked the records after being told the director of Green Source, Justin Sparrow, said Fort Smith had not delivered any of its recycling material to the Clarksville plant since at least July.
"We have not received any recycling from the city of Fort Smith since I started as director in July of last year," Sparrow said.
Fort Smith citizens weren't informed until this week that the material they thought was being recycled actually was being dumped in the landfill for the several months.
Several residents expressed disappointment that their efforts to recycle were wasted and that no one with the city bothered to tell them. City Administrator Carl Geffken apologized at a city directors meeting Tuesday for not making the notification sooner.
Geffken said Tuesday the city is looking for short-term and long-term solutions for the recycling problem that didn't involve charging residents extra. Fort Smith does not charge residents for recycling in their sanitation fee.
Sparrow said he spoke with city officials in October or November and told them the company did not want Fort Smith's recycling material.
Dingman said Fort Smith officials were under the impression that Green Source's refusal to take Fort Smith's recycling material was temporary but that it possibly would resume taking it in the fall.
He said when officials in Fort Smith called Green Source in October or November to try to resume sending the city's recycling to Clarksville, Green Source refused to take any.
Green Source's single-stream recycling line was not set up to receive the large volume of material the city's sanitation department had sent in the past, Sparrow said. Green Source also wanted to have the capacity to serve the needs of the cities -- especially Russellville -- in its nine-county service area.
Green Source is part of the West River Valley Regional Solid Waste Management District that is composed of Conway, Crawford, Franklin, Johnson, Logan, Perry, Pope, Scott and Yell counties.
Fort Smith put out a news release Monday that announced it was dumping its recyclable material in the landfill.
The release said Fort Smith had begun sending its recycling material to Green Source after a contract with a Fort Smith firm expired in 2014. It said Green Source continued to accept Fort Smith's recycling until November, when it closed its single-stream recycling line.
In single-stream recycling, material is sent to a recycler unsorted and the recycler sorts, processes and sells it.
Sparrow said Green Source's single-stream recycling line remained open and operating Thursday. The company processed 3,880 tons of recyclable material last year from its single-stream line.
Dingman, who wrote the news release, said Thursday he had assumed Green Source's line was closed when it rejected Fort Smith's recyclables in November but learned Wednesday that it was only closed to Fort Smith.
State Desk on 05/05/2017