While November's recycling bill has yet to arrive, Fulton officials have recognized a steady uptick in pricing.
Where to go from here remains a debate.
Costs to dispose of local recyclables have skyrocketed of late from $10 to $120 per ton. At the last Fulton City Council meeting Nov. 13, City Administrator Bill Johnson said a contract between the city and Federal International Recycling center in Jefferson City had ended, and that firm has not agreed to a new contract clearly defining costs to dump.
"From January to April, it was $23 a ton," Johnson said at Tuesday's council meeting. "From May to July, it was $24.50. August was $48.50, September was $50 and October was $120 a ton."
The fee for regular garbage that goes to the landfill is $32.50 per ton. Johnson said the city dumps about 200 tons of recyclables a year - and at the non-guaranteed rate of $120 a ton, that's $24,000, up from $2,000 per year.
Robert Boone, Fulton's assistant director of administration, said Tuesday some research has been done. He's talked to officials in other cities about what they do.
"The city of Columbia is interested in partnering with us," he said. "And Callaway Recycling."
Columbia currently has a curbside recycling program for dual stream collection. The city has six split-hopper trucks that can collect containers, like plastic bottles, laundry jugs, aluminum cans and so forth. The other side separates fiber materials such as paper and cardboard.
Callaway Recycling Center, operated by Frank Haymart, is a commercial enterprise that collects only recyclables with a good market, such as cardboard, aluminum and steel food cans. Haymart rents a building from Kingdom Projects (which used to sort recyclables) and employs some KPI staff to sort recyclables.
There are 738 blue recycling bins at Fulton city residences, which cost each customer $1 a month. That helps defray some costs, but right now, the city is collecting about 4 tons a month.
One idea is to eliminate that kind of collection and instead, place roll-off containers around town where residents can take their recyclables, placing them in appropriate sections.
City officials will continue to look for a solution, they said.