
Scrap metal and junk cars are piled up at Petersburg’s landfill in 2017. Eight Southeast cities are working to set up regular barge runs to recycle metal junk. (Photo by Joe Viechnicki/KFSK)
Eight Southeast Alaska communities will resume scrap metal recycling as early as this April.
The Southeast Alaska Regional Solid Waste Authority is working with Waste Management, a large garbage removal and recycling business. The authority includes Petersburg, Wrangell, Craig, Klawock, Thorne Bay, Kasaan, Hydaburg and Coffman Cove.
Petersburg Public Works Director Karl Hagerman said old cars, broken construction equipment and other scrap metal has been piling up for several years.
Hagerman said prices have been low, so it would have cost more to ship scrap metal south than could be recovered by selling it for recycling. He said the price was $175 a ton last summer, but could be up to $230 a ton later this spring.
“That’s the value in Seattle, not in Petersburg, Alaska. So, the trick is transportation and the cost of getting that metal to market,” he said.
The solid waste authority reached a scrap metal recycling agreement with another company about four years ago. But it fell through. Wrangell has had a large amount of scrap metal barged off through a separate agreement.
Hagerman told the recent Southeast Conference Mid Session Summit that the spring collection will be a one-time deal.
“The second part of the scrap metal agreement with Waste Management is hopefully to set up a long-term agreement with the company to remove metal from the communities on an ongoing basis,” he said.
The authority is also looking at what’s needed to continue hazardous waste pickups from Southeast communities.
The current contract is running out and the company doing the work doesn’t want to continue. Hagerman said a committee is considering three proposals to keep the pickups going.
Several larger Southeast communities have their own contracts for recycling scrap metal and hazardous waste.
Learn more about Southeast trash issues through our eight-part series, Talking Trash.
Recent headlines
Can Bethel afford the costs of climate change?
The costs from dealing with climate change are starting to become more visible in Bethel, a hub town for the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. There are also costs to the region’s lifestyle.High school students get a close look at state government during a busy week
High school students from across Alaska were at the Capitol this month to see for themselves how state government works. As it turned out, they were there at an especially busy time.Judge rejects claim that attorneys botched trial in Tenakee Springs homicide case
James Harmon, convicted of murder and sexual assault in 2005, claimed inadequate or insufficient representation by public defenders. But a judge recently wrote that Harmon failed to prove any of his claims.Avalanche advisory issued Friday for Juneau
According to the city's emergency programs manager, there’s potential for large avalanches on Mount Juneau due to roughly two feet of new snow and high winds expected Friday afternoon.