Recycling cleanup costs Burnet Co. $10K

BURNET, Texas (KXAN) - Hidden off a Burnet County road are the remnants of a recycling center. Interface Industries left a gap for those trying to go green when it closed four months ago .

"Once in a while," said Richard Baker, "we get somebody who says, 'Really? I wasn't aware of that.'"

Up the way from the gate now blocking entry for would-be recyclers, Baker and the county's Waste Transfer Station take the trash people are now forced to throw away. He said traffic has slowed over the summer. From 80 cars a days, Baker said he's lucky if he now sees 10.

For 13 years, people were used to seeing adults with mental disabilities working next door at Interface. The service offered that group a way to give back, but then the recycling industry tanked worldwide. It soon became too costly to keep Interface open.

"They were some really decent people to work with," Baker recalled, "and it's kind of sad that happened."

Though most of those workers have found new roles with other mental care services, what piled up after they left is now costing the county close to $10,000 to clean up, according to Burnet County Judge Donna Klaeger.

"(It’s) years and years of recyclables that were left outside," said Klaeger. "Once they're outside in the elements for too long, they're not recyclable any longer."

That waste and what the public must now bring to Baker's station for a trip to the dump keeps him busy. Still, he said, he's hopeful to have neighbors again sometime soon.

"I know that there's no market for recyclables right now," Baker said, "but one day it will turn around."

There is the chance the Burnet County Commissioners could revive the recycling program. At Tuesday’s commissioner’s court, they plan to discuss the option of opening up the lease to any business that might be interested in that building.