Hopkinsville Solid Waste General Manager Tony Sicari provided an update Tuesday night to Hopkinsville City Council on the city’s recycling program which he says is unrecoverable.
Over the past three months, Sicari said he’s tried everything to save the recycling program, but he can’t be saved and he’s lost a total of $2.6 million over the past few years.
click to download audioHe added that the plan is to stop providing the service on July 1 to about 700 customers.
click to download audioSicari says he takes personal responsibility for the recycling program, but he has spoken to other companies that have ended their recycling programs, including GFL – the world’s third-largest solid waste company.
click to download audioCouncilwoman Alethea West said there was no need for Sicari to apologize as it was presented by the Economic Development Board for the city council to try the recycling program to help the town become a Star City of gold or silver for economic development.
click to download audioHowever, West added that she was sorry for the loss of taxpayers’ money and that she believed that in the future the council should take into account the behavior of citizens.
click to download audioWhen the recycling program launched in 2018, Sicari said they bought about 1,000 recycling bins at $75 apiece and they weren’t just going to throw them away. He said they would put Hopkinsville Solid Waste stickers on the trash cans and use them to collect trash at special town events.