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Southeast Kansas Recycling Center reopens on trial basis, asks Crawford County for help spreading word and sponsorships
Summary
The Southeast Kansas Recycling Center told the Crawford County Commission it reopened on a limited, fee-for-service trial and sought sponsorships and county promotion to close a roughly $45,000 budget gap. The center reported 120 cars the first week and 100 the next, short of the 300-per-week target.
Dave Perricone, representing the Southeast Kansas Recycling Center, told the Crawford County Commission the center reopened this month on a limited trial after closing because of financial constraints. “We did on a limited trial basis using a fee for service model,” Perricone said, adding, “It's $10 per car.”
Perricone said the center hoped to regain about half the traffic it had before the closure and aimed for roughly 300 cars per week; he reported 120 cars the first week and 100 the second week. He said the center received many small, grassroots donations that signaled community interest and prompted the partial reopening.
Perricone presented a sponsorship proposal and asked commissioners to help spread the word through personal and professional networks and to accept printed flyers the center produced listing collection days. He described collection days as Fridays and Saturdays for general drop-off and Wednesdays for e‑waste and scrap metal. “We have flyers that say, you know, we're open on Fridays and Saturdays,” he said.
County staff offered to post operating hours and accepted-item lists on county social channels if the center provides its brochure. Perricone also described service limits: pickups by the center would be possible only when a box truck can be filled in a single stop because the operation no longer has the manpower for frequent stops. He warned donors that mixed paper is currently unprofitable: “the prices drop so low,” he said, and advised that mixed paper be excluded from donations.
Perricone said sponsorships would help stabilize operations and that, without sponsorships, he was “at about a $45,000 deficit” in drafting the next year’s budget. He said the sponsorship program could include different service levels such as scheduled pickups during off hours depending on sponsorship level.
Perricone concluded by asking for county support to publicize the reopening; commissioners thanked him and wished him a good Thanksgiving.
The county did not pledge funding during the meeting; staff agreed to post the recycling center’s materials on county pages once provided.
