Mower County homeowners and renters could pay as much as $55.36 a year if the county board approves a change to single-sort recycling, but the board has several factors to consider before it’s slated to vote on Aug. 11.

The assumptions of county commissioners and staff were confirmed at Tuesday’s board meeting when staff announced switching to single-sort would cost residents about $40 more a year than sorted recycling, which costs about $16 to $18 a year now.

Currently, residents must separate plastics, paper, and glass and cans when recycling, but the board is debating switching to single-sort, where all recyclables go into one bin.

The board now has five options to consider during its single-sort discussion:

1. The county switches to single-sort and offers countywide pickup to all residences — both city and rural. Cost: $55.36 a year per residence.

2. The county switches to single-sort recycling but only offers single-sort pickup in incorporated city limits. Rural residents would have to drop recyclables at eight to 10 drop boxes around the county. Cost: $42.51 a year for rural and city residences.

3. Like No. 2, the county switches to single-sort recycling with pickup in city limits and rural drop boxes, but rural residences would get credit for the savings incurred by using drop boxes since they wouldn’t get curbside pickup. Cost: $55.36 a year for city residential pickup and $2.41 for rural residences who’d have to use drop boxes.

4. Like No. 2, the county switches to single-sort recycling with pickup in city limits and rural drop boxes; however, city and rural residences would split the savings seen through the limited pickup, though rural residences would pay less since they don’t get curbside pickup. Estimated cost: $48.39 a year for city residential pickup and $24.18 for rural residences who’d have to use drop boxes, though the difference could be adjusted to a different level.

5. The board keeps its sorted recycling system.

If the board votes to switch to single-sort recycling, County Coordinator Craig Oscarson said it would make the most sense to either offer curbside pickup for all residences for $55.36 — option one — or to have city and rural residences split the savings with rural residents paying a bit less for the reduced service — option four.

Currently, all property owners pay for recycling on property taxes. However, single-sort would only be offered to homes and duplexes, not businesses, churches, government buildings or large apartment complexes. Businesses, apartments and the like would need to set up a contract with the bid winner to recycle.

At $55.36 per residence for curbside pickup, Mower would be a bit high compared to its single-sort neighbors. According to Oscarson, Freeborn County residences paid about $45 for city pickup and drop boxes, Steele paid about $47 for city pickup and drop boxes, and Winona County residences paid about $36 for countywide curbside pickup in 2014.

‘We’d like community input’

The board decided to explore single-sort because of the push to go green across the country, and counties like Steele, Freeborn and Winona greatly increased the number of recyclables brought in after switching to single-sort.

“Overall picture, you gain more recyclable material,” 5th District Commissioner Mike Ankeny said.

The board is confident the change would accomplish a key goal of keeping more items out of landfills, as 3rd District Commissioner Jerry Reinartz noted Freeborn County increased recycling by about 75 percent in its first year.

“There’s definitely a benefit to single-sort based on these statistics,” Reinartz said.

That doesn’t make the decision any easier.

The decision will be complex for board members, with no clear consensus yet through public feedback. While Reinartz said about 60 percent of the feedback he’s received has favored single-sort, 4th District Commissioner Tony Bennett said the majority of people speaking to him have favored the current system.

Last week, 1st District Commissioner Tim Gabrielson said he’s heard people narrowly favoring sticking with the current recycling system.

Bennett and Glynn said most people who currently recycle are in favor of keeping the current program, largely because they don’t want to pay extra.

But Jeremy Waters with Waste Management estimated families can save about 30 percent of their trash by recycling more with single-sort. By increasing recycling, some families may be able to reduce their trash bill to offset the increased recycling costs.

However, Public Works Director Mike Hanson said people recycling now may not see such savings.

The board called for public feedback before its slated to vote.

“We’ll more than likely make a decision on Aug. 11 and until then we’d like community input,” Ankeny said.

Mower County Board of Commissioners contacts

—Tim Gabrielson, 1st District: 507-433-2598, tim.gabrielson@co.mower.mn.us

—Polly Glynn, 2nd District, vice-chair: 507-269-4498, pglynn@hmtel.com

—Jerry Reinartz, 3rd District: 507-219-2205, jerry.reinartz@hotmail.com

—Tony Bennett, 4th District: 507-440-1203, tony@old218.com

—Mike Ankeny, 5th District, chair: 507-433-4157, mlankeny@ankenysminimart.com