San Luis looks at establishing recycling program

SAN LUIS, Ariz. — Somerton became the first city in Yuma County to have a curbside recycling program, then Yuma decided to start one.

And now, San Luis is looking at having one.

Currently, recycling containers can be found at public locations around the Arizona border city, but a proposal under study by the city council members would place the containers in front of each resident's home as part of a curbside recycling program similar to Somerton's.

“We have already visited the recycling plant in Somerton to begin to get an idea of what can be done,” said San Luis City Councilman Marco Pinzon.

He said the city could establish its own plant to sort recyclable materials, or use the Somerton plant under an agreement with that city.

As Somerton was planning a recycling program two years ago, San Luis was considering joining with it in what would be a larger regional program that would serve residents throughout southern Yuma County, he said. But city finances ended up preventing San Luis from taking part in the broader program.

Pinzon said the city's finances have improved to the point that the city can now reconsider recycling. He said city officials will seek a meeting with their Somerton counterparts to reconsider the option of a combined Somerton-San Luis recycling program.

Last year, the Somerton program proved to be more than self-sufficient, generating $77,032 in revenue, compared to $66,559 in operating costs.

Earlier this month, the Yuma City Council voted to approve a citywide curbside recycling program, which is due to start as early as May.

San Luis City Councilman Joe Harper said the council's concern is that a recycling program not cause a spike in the city's waste collection budget.

“This is a subject we are going to be discussing,” he said. “We are going to have a recycling program, but it has to be well planned out so that it works well and it doesn't hurt city finances.”