Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
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John Hollenhorst ReportingA Salt Lake Company wants your trash and garbage! They say they can make money by scavenging for recyclables, and they claim they do it cheaper and better than city recycling programs.
A lot of trash comes through this door -- 1200 tons a day of commercial waste.
Lee Rowe, Metro Waste LLC: "It comes from restaurants, grocery stores, apartments, from businesses."
All that trash goes onto a conveyor belt. Dozens of workers called "pickers" pick through it for $7.50 an hour.
Lee Rowe: "We remove about 15 percent out of the waste stream here."
That means 15 percent of the trash is valuable enough to recycle. Metro Waste sells it for profit. Now they're going after the potentially lucrative busines of sorting household trash collected by local governments.
They say their 15 percent recovery rate beats most city programs, in which homeowners themselves sort recyclables into blue cans.
Charlie Luke, Metro Waste LLC: "I think people have very good intentions. With our experience, we've found a way to be even more efficient and effective in recycling."
They've been pitching the idea of handling the waste for city and county governments in the area, but so far they don't have a single taker.
Debbie Lyons, SLC Recycling Manager: "The city's very committed to its recycling program and we're very happy about the success that it's had."
Salt Lake City's blue-can program is one of the most successful, equaling Metro's 15 percent. But it costs the city a million dollars a year. Metro Waste claims local governments could actually share profits if they let Metro do the recycling.
Charlie Luke: "Any time you're trying to do something new, you are going to meet some resistance."
But government officials say they aren't sure Metro's cost factors will work out in the long-run. So far, Metro has made them and offer they can refuse, and they have.
Salt Lake County recently turned down a proposal from Metro. Only about eight percent of the county's household waste is now being recycled, but officials say that number improves every year.
