Ulster County waste agency proposes higher tipping fees, seeks compost grant and new diversion contracts

The Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency (UCRRA) reported proposed changes to its 2026 budget and related programs at the Sept. 2 Energy, Environment and Sustainability Committee meeting, including a rise in tipping fees for most customers, a grant-dependent expansion of composting and continued work on a diversion-request-for-proposals. Director Mark Ryder outlined the numbers and next steps.

Ryder said the agency’s board approved a draft 2026 budget that moves overall expenditures “slightly up” within a roughly $23,000,000 budget and would increase the tipping fee for general customers and haulers to $1.50 per ton while holding municipal rates at $1.35 per ton. “We plan on partnering with the MRDCs more when it comes to getting organics out of the waste stream and when it comes to reuse,” Ryder said. He described the municipal hold-harmless as both an incentive for towns to partner and a recognition that municipalities deliver less than 10% of inbound tons.

Why it matters: the tipping-fee change affects the per-ton disposal cost hauled to UCRRA facilities and is the principal mechanism by which UCRRA balances revenues and expenses. Ryder walked committee members through three main drivers of the roughly $15-per-ton increase embedded in the draft: about $4 per ton tied to a planned “repower”/reuse center, roughly $4 per ton tied to an anticipated 5% collective bargaining wage increase for union employees, and roughly $4 per ton for higher transportation and landfill disposal costs; Ryder also said a projected drop of about 8,000 tons in 2026 volume increased the per-ton pressure on the fee. “We decreased our projection for 2026 by 8,000 tons,” Ryder said, noting the agency uses three-year actuals to set projections and that a 2022 anomaly (a large hauler bringing extra tons) is now out of that window.

Ryder and committee members discussed composting plans tied to a pending Department of Environmental Conservation grant. Ryder said the compost application has been submitted and award notification is expected in December. If funded, the grant would supply in-vessel composting equipment, collection bins and training to municipal recycling drop-off centers (MRDCs), plus collection sites in the county’s three villages. Ryder said the grant includes positions funded for an educator and a food-waste enforcement officer and some support for Kingston’s phase 2 expansion; whether towns charge residents to drop off food waste will be decided town by town. “What the grant provides is processing equipment and capability for them to accept food waste at the transfer stations and to process it on-site into compost,” Ryder said.

Committee members asked about equipment models and staffing. Ryder pointed to commercial in-vessel units — he cited the company Dungster as an example — and said sites will likely require part-time labor or reassignment of current staff rather than full new FTEs. Director Reiner added the grant includes funding for what he called a “rocket composter” as a demonstration unit at the county fairgrounds, and the county Ag Society supplied a letter of support included with the grant application.

On diversion technology, Ryder summarized an evaluation of seven proposals submitted in response to RFB 2501, “alternative technologies to landfill and combustible incineration.” An evaluation committee shortlisted five firms for presentations in late September or early October; those presentations will winnow the candidates further before UCRRA’s board sees finalists. The proposals ranged in claimed diversion from about 60% to 90% of mixed municipal solid waste using combinations of mechanical separation (shredders, eddy currents, conveyors) and end processes that include anaerobic digestion or other energy recovery. Ryder emphasized that the RFB explicitly excluded traditional waste-to-energy incinerators and that the committee is scrutinizing proposals that mix separation and energy processes to ensure they are not de facto incineration.

Ryder also updated the committee on UCRRA’s internal capital plans connected to diversion and reuse: a reuse innovation center (an estimated $10,000,000 total project), an on-site residential MRDC to separate residential drop-offs from commercial haulers, a mattress recycling facility pending permit modification, and an expansion of compost acceptance from 5,000 to 10,000 tons. Ryder characterized these capital projects as the kinds of investments a bonding cap would enable (a separate committee item) and said some projects could move forward through leasing or phased implementation while seeking capital.

Committee members asked about the effect of diversion on projected tons and fees. Ryder said the 8,000-ton projection reduction reflects removing a one-time 2022 anomaly from the three-year average used for budgeting, not a direct, immediate effect of new diversion programs. He added that while diversion investments increase capital and some operating costs, they can reduce long-haul transportation and disposal expenses over time.

No formal committee vote was required on the budget update; Ryder said staff will continue to refine figures and return with more details. He asked the committee to consider how the agency and towns want to implement MRDC-based composting if the grant is awarded in December. Several legislators signaled support and asked follow-up questions about equipment models, staffing, municipal policy choices and how C&D (construction and demolition) recycling would be handled outside of this MSW-focused RFB.

Ending: The agency will notify the committee if the DEC grant is awarded in December and will bring shortlisted diversion vendors in for presentations in late September/early October. Ryder said the agency will continue coordinating with towns on MRDC contracts and with the legislature on budget review if a contract or formal review process is required.