New Recycling Fees

The Municipality of Kingston is proud to have offered free recycling to its residents for the past twenty years. Unfortunately, recycling costs have skyrocketed in recent years and the pandemic has only caused costs to increase even more. For example, as of this April, Kingston paid the landfill $49.00 per ton of garbage. Recycling, meanwhile, cost $64.12 per ton to process, or 31% more than garbage disposal fees. Additionally, the volume of Kingston’s recycling has increased significantly during the pandemic.

In years past, Kingston could sell the recyclables it collected. The sale of the materials would subsidize or almost totally offset the costs of Kingston’s recycling budget. Those days are no more. The total cost for Kingston to collect curbside recyclables is now $226,972.00 per year.

Kingston does not have an option as to whether or not to collect recyclable materials. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania mandates communities like Kingston to recycle. The Commonwealth also views recycling as an essential service during the pandemic.

Due to these considerations, Kingston can no longer offer recycling as a free service. It is now necessary to charge an annual fee of $30.00 per residential unit to offset the high costs of curbside recycling services. The fee is effective immediately and you will soon receive a bill from the Berkheimer Agency. For reference, the new fee is only $5.00 more per year than the recycling fee charged by Kingston 20 years ago.

Kingston knows that its residents care about the environment and financial well being of their community. Residents also deserve to know why a recycling fee is again necessary.

Thank you for all you do for Kingston.