Slack Street recycling center employee John Rowe sifts though trash in Charleston, W.Va., last month looking for recylables, such as plastic bottles and tin cans.

COSTS MORE TO SAVE COSTS MORE TO SAVE Enlarge By Joseph Kaczmarek, AP Dorene Haenick takes recyclables to the curb in Cherry Hill, N.J. Industry insiders worry that if services get cut, residents will get out of the habit. Recycling may be good for the environment, but right now it's not very good business. Plummeting global market prices for such items as aluminum, paper, plastic and steel — some of which have fallen by as much as 80% — are forcing recycling companies to lay off workers, cut expenses and stop accepting certain materials because of their decreased worth. Prices started dropping in early fall when the global export market collapsed as a result of the recession, said Ed Skernolis, acting executive director of the National Recycling Coalition in Washington, D.C. While metal prices had shown some decline earlier because of slowdowns in domestic auto production and construction activity, other commodities dropped sharply when the Asian markets, particularly China, stopped buying, Skernolis said. "The business side of recycling is heavily influenced by the price of materials brought into the commodity market," Skernolis said. "The value chain is intrinsically connected to the global economy." According to RecycleNet Corp., based in Salt Lake City, the national price of aluminum has dropped from $2,040 to $1,020 per ton since June. In the same period, the price of steel has dropped from $210 to $77 a ton, copper from $1.58 a pound to 40 cents a pound and cardboard from $115 to $40 a ton. In northeastern export areas, material prices have dropped by 80% in the past three months, and in the central portion of the country by about 60% or 70%, said Steve Ragiel, chief executive officer of the Houston-based Greenstar North America, the nation's largest private processor of recyclables with 18 facilities nationwide. "This has been the most rapid decline we've seen," said Ragiel, who added the down market is expected to last for a year or possibly two. As the domestic market has become flooded with recyclables, recycling companies have been forced to cut back. "It hit everybody in the recycling industry," said Allen Jongsma, vice president of Agri-Plas, based outside of Salem, Ore. The company, which specializes in agricultural plastics that are shipped to Asia and used in polyester clothing and filler for down coats, has laid off two-thirds of its workforce this year, Jongsma said. In Missouri, Springfield-based Greenway Recycling is cutting back on some of its services. "It's classic supply and demand," said Jim Von Behren, president of the commercial paper and plastic recycling company. "Not only is pricing low, the movability of materials to mills is really hard," Von Behren said. "It's a question of can you continue moving or selling what you have at any price." Some recycling companies are surviving by adjusting what they pay haulers. Far West Fibers in Portland, Ore., lowered its price to haulers three times in October, which the company had never done before, said Jeff Murray, its vice president of business development. "I've never seen it anything like this," said Murray, who said he has been in the recycling industry for 31 years. In Vermont, the Chittenden Solid Waste District plans to change rates in January and charge haulers $20 per ton instead of paying them $7 per ton, said Tom Moreau, general manager of the service. With the low prices for materials, some scrap yards are reporting fewer customers. "When prices go from the highest in history to a low, the public is holding on to material to wait and sell it at the right time," said Richard Myers, general manager of Tom-Bar, which is part of Tenenbaum Recycling Group, based in Arkansas. "A lot of people do this for a living." Other industry insiders worry that if recycling facilities cut back on curbside services, residents will get out of the recycling habit. "A lot of those services are going to be impacted if it stays like this," said Melinda Caldwell, owner of the recycling brokerage company Via Recyclables, based in Harrison, Ark. "We don't want peoples' habits to change." Bratton reports for The Baxter Bulletin in Mountain Home, Ark. Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more