A look inside Republic Services Recycling Center on Friday, Nov. 6, 2015, in Las Vegas.
Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019 | 11:34 a.m.
Due to changes to recycling policies overseas, recycling rates for Las Vegas residents will increase by 74 cents per month starting Dec. 1.
The Las Vegas City Council unanimously approved the rate change Wednesday as requested by Republic Services, the waste management company that manages trash and recycling processing in most jurisdictions in Clark County.
All single-family residences in Las Vegas currently pay $15.20 per month for recycling services, according to 2019-2020 franchise agreement between the city and Republic Services. The rate increase approved Wednesday will bring monthly recycling fees up to $15.94 per month.
This is the first time that Republic has raised recycling fees in the last 20 years, said Jennifer Lazovich, a lawyer representing Republic.
“We would not be before you today if we had a choice,” Lazovich said. “We don’t have a choice.”
Republic sought the rate increase in response to new recycling policies in countries that accept recyclable materials from the United States, which include China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and India, Lazovich said. Prior to 2017, China accepted over 40% of the world’s recyclable materials so long as the materials had a residual contamination rate of no more than 5%.
Under a new Chinese policy enacted in 2017, “Operation National Sword,” the residual contamination rate has been tightened significantly. Another Chinese policy from 2013, “Operation Green Fence,” also lowered the acceptable level of contamination for imported recyclable materials.
Now, baled recyclable materials going into China for processing cannot have a contamination rate of more than .5%, Lazovich said. Other east Asian and southeast Asian countries have passed similar policies, creating challenges for recycling in communities across the United States and in other countries that have traditionally sent their recyclables overseas.
“We’ve waited almost two years before coming before you to see if either of these policies would change – would they be here to stay or would they get worse? We think they’re here to stay,” Lazovich said.
The new recycling rate in Las Vegas will be in effect for at least the next five years. After five years, Republic will revisit the rate with the city to determine whether it needs to increase it further, keep it as is or decrease it if policies become more favorable for recycling in the United States, Lazovich said.
It is unclear at this point whether other countries could start accepting recyclable materials with more lax contamination requirements, thereby bringing down costs again, Lazovich said.
“It’s going to take a while for new markets to open up, whether it’s in the United States or some other country,” she said.
Ward 2 City Councilwoan Victoria Seaman described the rate increase as a “small price to pay” to continue recycling in Las Vegas, which diverts waste from the Apex Regional Landfill northeast of Las Vegas.
“I’ve had an overwhelming volume of emails supporting (this) request,” Seaman said. “The residents of Las Vegas realize that doing the right thing for the environment sometimes comes with a price.”
