Idaho Falls will no longer provide recycling bins, except for glass, due to rising costs

IDAHO FALLS — Rising fees are causing the city of Idaho Falls to stop providing recycling bins and hauling recyclable items, with the exception of glass, starting next year.

This will be effective on Jan. 16, 2024.

For more than 20 years, the Idaho Falls Sanitation Division has provided the community with large bins at multiple locations. Residents could, in turn, drop off cardboard, aluminum and tin for recycling, a news release from the city of Idaho Falls said.

Employees would haul the items away to a local company — Pacific Recycling — to be recycled at no cost to the city.

Last year, the sanitation division hauled over 540 tons of recyclable material to Pacific Recycling, the news release said. In March, the business increased the fee from $0 to $84 per ton.

“We understand and value the importance of protecting and conserving resources, but the rising cost associated with recycling those items just became too expensive for the city to continue,” Idaho Falls Sanitation Superintendent Jordan Rechenmacher, said in the release.

EastIdahoNews.com reached out to Pacific Recycling to ask why the cost was raised.

“It’s just fuel costs is what it comes down to. Fuel costs for the freight,” Pacific Recycling Branch Manager in Idaho Falls Bobby Moore said.

He added that it’s also how everything is set up.

“We don’t really have a good setup for cardboard to begin with,” he said. “We did work with the city and tried to help that out … (but) we don’t have a good setup for the public for cardboard and that’s why we don’t do it.”

Idaho Falls spokeswoman Kerry Hammon said the city will still provide bins for glass recycling, as that process is handled differently.

So, where can residents turn to in order to recycle? The city suggested Western Recycling, a privately owned company that provides both drop-off and curbside recycling. Click here for more information or call (208) 529-9908.