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Kennebunkport announced that come Labor Day, curbside recycling is curbed. Costs under the new contract looked to triple and the budget wasn't there to approve it. The Meeting Minutes from August 8th indicate that the new budget for Recycling pickup would be $60,000 (I believe they mean an incremental $60,000), plus an incremental $30,000 for pickup of cardboard from Bradbury's and Dock Square. There are roughly 3,800 homes in Kennebunkport, so that's $23.68 on average per home we're talking about. It costs $5 minimum to take one load of recycling to Kennebunk plus the cost of making the trip, and the personal opportunity cost of that time. Seems to me that this contract renewal snuck up on our officials, and they weren't prepared for it. The article above notes there are efforts to figure out a solution by next summer.
What can we do?
First, it was noted that improper recycling habits of our residents and renters is a big part of the cost driver. We're putting things in recycling that don't belong there and our food containers aren't thoroughly cleaned. So, let's collectively work on that, and educate our renters.
Please reach out to our selectmen and ask them to make this an imperative. The task of bringing recycling to Kennebunk and paying for it is certainly not something our rental vacationers are going to contemplate doing. And the impact that vacationers have on recyclable materials is significant. So, I would expect to see some privates services pop up, charging hefty fees if the town doesn't get the service back up and running.
Alternatively, all that material will end up in the trash, and that's not very Kennebunkport of us.