Commissioners approve amended recycling interlocal with St. Lucie County and greenlight feasibility study for local processing

Indian River County commissioners voted April 21 to approve an amended interlocal agreement with St. Lucie County to process the county's recyclables at a negotiated rate of $45 per ton beginning Oct. 1, 2026. Himanshu Mehta, managing director for the county's solid waste disposal district, told the board that the renegotiated fee was reduced from an initial $55 per ton request and that the county expects to send roughly 22,000 tons annually — a change that could add "almost another million dollars" to next year's budget for processing.

Mehta also outlined contingency planning: because St. Lucie's facility periodically has shutdowns and equipment issues, staff solicited preliminary pricing from private vendors and estimated an emergency diversion processing and transportation cost of about $1.8 million if significant amounts of material must be sent elsewhere. Commissioners instructed staff to work with procurement to secure formal pricing for emergency diversion contracts and to begin a feasibility study to evaluate whether a local material‑recovery or processing facility (including potential public‑private partnership options or feedstock alternatives like waste‑to‑energy) would be viable.

Several commissioners said the rising costs of transporting recyclable materials and supply‑chain pressures justify exploring local processing. The board approved the interlocal and the direction to pursue emergency pricing and a feasibility analysis; staff will return with formal proposals and budget forecasts.