A greener goal, at a cost: recycling in Arlington is no longer free

Brynn O'Connor | Your Arlington • March 26, 2026

As the cost of recycling continues to rise across the country, the community will decide how to cover the costs at the ballot box this weekend.


Arlington is an environmentally conscientious community. It’s been ranked at number two in a list of the “top 10 greenest towns” in Massachusetts. Town leaders, employees, and residents have created climate goals and are putting policies in place to achieve them, such as electrifying transportation, building energy-efficient homes, and expanding recycling across the town.


So when the town announced at the beginning of the year that paper cups would be added to the list of recyclable items, many celebrated it as a step toward a greener Arlington.


Environmentally speaking, it is something to celebrate. But at a time when recycling is becoming more expensive than ever, the question arises: Is this progress the town can afford?


“The recycling commodity market continues to falter, with our recyclables generating less and less revenue to offset the cost of their processing,” Town Manager Jim Feeney wrote in an email to YourArlington. 


The collapse of the recycling market

The pivotal shift of the recycling market dates back to January 2018, when China, the largest importer of waste, enacted its National Sword policy; extreme limitations on shipments which denied recyclables mixed with trash, the wrong type of and low-quality recyclables. 


At the beginning of this year, Feeney spoke at the Jan. 12 Select Board meeting to discuss the town’s trash and recycling budget for fiscal year 2026, during which he explained the recycling streaming costs and consequences of the declining commodity values. 

“Now, we have to pay roughly $125 per ton to have our recycling stream processed at a Materials Recovery Facility, also known as a M.R.F.” Feeney explained during the meeting. 


A new contract, a new reality 

As many in town now know, the town signed a new waste hauler contract with Waste Management, effective as of July 2025. With this new contract, according to Feeney, the town now owns its recyclables and can profit from the materials it collects, but only when commodity prices are strong.


When municipalities send their waste products to MRFs, the blended value of their commodities, from cardboard, plastics, mixed paper, and more, is subtracted from the charge per ton, meaning the town’s final tab depends on the strength of the recycling market.


“If the blended value exceeds the charge, the town would see the revenue… if it doesn’t, then we pay the net difference between the two,” said Feeney in the meeting. 


From $0 to $500,000

In January 2025, when the town was still bidding and receiving proposals for its new solid waste contract, the market value for the blended commodity items was approximately $67 (see diagram on Your Arlington website). Meaning, Arlington had both expected and budgeted to pay $58 per ton to process its recyclables. 


In addition to China’s National Sword policy, the country is currently in a “K-shaped” economic recovery following the Covid-19 pandemic, which has resulted in fewer household sales, fewer packages, and fewer shipping boxes. According to the Northeast Recycling Council, in 2025, commodity values went down for every recyclable item. 


“Through the first five months of fiscal year 2026, we’ve been paying, on average, $100 per ton to process our recycling,” Feeney said. In a report sent to YourArlington, Feeney estimated that if current trends continue, the town could face at least $185,000 in additional costs in fiscal year 2026, based on roughly 4,400 tons of recycling.


The report indicates the town could spend as much as $500,000 to handle its recyclables this fiscal year—a striking increase from fiscal year 2025, when those costs were effectively zero. 


Before signing the new waste hauler contract, Arlington relied on JRM Hauling for trash and recycling collection – which was acquired by Republic Services in 2022. Under this contract, the hauler covered the recycling processing fees. 


While many municipalities have been faced with the effects of the declining recycling market for years, Feeney explained why Arlington has been insulated by a buffer that protected the town’s budget until this recent fiscal year.


“Our old waste hauler [JRM] was looking for a contract extension prior to their acquisition by Republic. We agreed to the extension at the time, but only under the same terms, so we experienced an additional three years without bearing a cost for processing our recycling.”


Covering the cost: what residents should know

With Arlington’s recycling shifting from being cost free to a major budget burden, the issue at hand is how the community will cover these rising costs — a decision that may ultimately come down to how residents vote in this weekend’s town election.


Feeney wrote that there may be a fee increase in the future for residents who request a second recycling cart from Waste Management, but otherwise, the town does not have plans to introduce a new recycling fee or raise taxes specifically to cover these costs.


“At present we are absorbing this cost into the existing budget, and have updated budget projections for the upcoming fiscal years to reflect this experience,” Feeney wrote in an email to YourArlington.

Recycling and trash collection are paid for out of the town’s General Fund, which also supports schools and other municipal services. That means the rising cost of recycling is factored into the town’s overall budget, including the proposed $14.8 million tax override on this year’s ballot.


Balancing cost and climate goals 

While the outcome of this weekend’s vote could shape how these costs are managed, early data is already offering a look at how Arlington’s new recycling and trash collection system has been working.


According to Feeney, early tonnage numbers have indicated that the town is experiencing a decrease in both trash and recycling waste streams under the new cart program.


However, there has been a more “pronounced decrease” on the trash side than recycling—an encouraging sign that disposal costs could fall and help offset the new recycling expenses.


The town now faces a crossroads where its environmental goals meet budget limitations and shifting markets—and where the cost of recycling is measured not just in good intentions, but in dollars.


Read article on Your Arlington's webiste.

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New program prepares the next generation of recycling professionals

By Recycling Product News • October 14, 2026
The Recycled Materials Association (ReMA) and the Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) have launched a new pilot initiative to train the next generation of recycling professionals: the Sustainable Materials Careers Program (SMCP). Take a look inside the Sustainable Materials Careers Program Building on the success of NERC's Emerging Professionals Program, which offers new professionals exposure to sustainable materials management (SMM), mentorship, and career guidance, SMCP will focus on college students — with the potential to engage high school students in the future. The program will give students a deeper understanding of career opportunities in SMM and provide hands-on pathways from the classroom to the workplace. Through Career Exploration events and professional development training, students will gain industry exposure, build foundational knowledge, and chart a clear path toward careers in sustainable materials. Career Exploration events will be part of ReMA's Recycling Jobs Day initiative, a national program connecting students with careers in the recycled materials industry. Event activities will include tours of material recovery, recycling, and/or manufacturing facilities, as well as panels highlighting diverse career pathways in the sector. "Many students want to work in sustainability, but they rarely see the diverse career paths available across the materials lifecycle," said Megan Schulz-Fontes, executive director of NERC. "By combining hands-on facility tours with foundational training, this program opens doors across every corner of the industry — including state and municipal governance, equipment and technology manufacturers, recycling infrastructure, and corporate sustainability teams — ensuring the next generation is equipped to lead." Growth in sustainability has increased the number of professionals needed to run the industry The material economy accounts for over 40 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, according to the EPA. Recycling and composting in the United States prevent the release of roughly 186 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent into the air each year — an impact equal to taking over 39 million gasoline-powered cars off the road annually. Compared to the processing and transportation needed for mining, drilling, harvesting, or other methods of extracting natural resources for manufacturing, the use of recycled materials typically produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions. Global demand for green jobs is growing at 8 percent per year. Yet, LinkedIn's Global Green Skills Report highlights a shortage of qualified talent, with many roles unfilled due to limited training and a lack of mixed skills, as noted by the Institute of Sustainability Studies. SMCP addresses these gaps by increasing awareness of sustainable materials careers and offering free training to participating students. In the 2026-2027 academic year, NERC plans to hold six Career Exploration events and provide enrollment in its Foundations of Sustainable Materials and Recycling course at no cost to students from participating Academic Partners. Current Academic Partners include MIT Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Rowan University Advanced Materials & Manufacturing Institute, University of Massachusetts Lowell, University of New Hampshire Sustainability Institute, University of Southern Maine, and Yale. Read on Recycling Product News.

Northeast Recycling Council and ReMA Launch Sustainable Materials Careers Program

By Waste Advantage • October 9, 2026
In partnership, Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) and Recycled Materials Association (ReMA), announce the launch of a new pilot initiative: the Sustainable Materials Careers Program (SMCP). Building on the success of NERC’s Emerging Professionals Program, which offers new professionals exposure to sustainable materials management (SMM), mentorship, and career guidance, SMCP will focus on college students – with the potential to engage high school students in the future. The program will give students a deeper understanding of career opportunities in SMM and provide hands-on pathways from the classroom to the workplace. Through Career Exploration events and professional development training, students will gain industry exposure, build foundational knowledge, and chart a clear path toward careers in sustainable materials. Career Exploration events will be part of ReMA’s Recycling Jobs Day initiative, a national program connecting students with careers in the recycled materials industry. Event activities will include tours of material recovery, recycling, and/or manufacturing facilities, as well as panels highlighting diverse career pathways in the sector. “Many students want to work in sustainability, but they rarely see the diverse career paths available across the materials lifecycle,” said Megan Schulz-Fontes, Executive Director of NERC. “By combining hands-on facility tours with foundational training, this program opens doors across every corner of the industry—including state and municipal governance, equipment and technology manufacturers, recycling infrastructure, and corporate sustainability teams—ensuring the next generation is equipped to lead.” The material economy accounts for over 40% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, according to the EPA. Recycling and composting in the United States prevent the release of roughly 186 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent into the air each year—an impact equal to taking over 39 million gasoline-powered cars off the road annually. Compared to the processing and transportation needed for mining, drilling, harvesting, or other methods of extracting natural resources for manufacturing, the use of recycled materials typically produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions. Global demand for green jobs is growing at 8% per year. Yet, LinkedIn’s Global Green Skills Report highlights a shortage of qualified talent, with many roles unfilled due to limited training and a lack of mixed skills, as noted by the Institute of Sustainability Studies. SMCP addresses these gaps by increasing awareness of sustainable materials careers and offering free training to participating students. In the 2026-2027 academic year, NERC plans to hold six Career Exploration events and provide enrollment in its Foundations of Sustainable Materials and Recycling course at no cost to students from participating Academic Partners. Current Academic Partners include MIT Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Rowan University Advanced Materials & Manufacturing Institute, University of Massachusetts Lowell, University of New Hampshire Sustainability Institute, University of Southern Maine, and Yale Office of Sustainability. NERC invites forward-thinking businesses and organizations to support and expand the Northeast Sustainable Materials Careers Program. By becoming a Program Partner, sponsors directly enable more students to access free training and hands-on industry exposure—building a strong, qualified pipeline for the future circular economy workforce. Read on Waste Advantage.

Ramping up reuse of construction materials

By Brian Clark Howard | Resource Recycling • October 8, 2026
The construction and demolition industries send a massive volume of materials to landfills, but reuse can make a big difference, panelists said at the Northeast Recycling Council’s (NERC) Annual Rethink Resource Use Conference in Plainsboro, New Jersey on Wednesday. In New York City, 60% of the total waste stream is construction and demolition (C&D) waste, said Kelly Tigera, the founder and CEO of Orbit , an online marketplace for reclaimed construction materials launched in 2005 in the Big Apple. In the US overall, C&D waste has been estimated at 23% of the total waste stream . According to the EPA , 600 million tons of C&D debris were generated in the United States in 2018, which was more than twice the amount of generated municipal solid waste. Just over 455 million tons of C&D debris were directed to next use (primarily as aggregate); the rest went to landfills. Construction is “one of the most wasteful industries,” said panelist Andrew Sigal, a market manager at the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). “Within that 145 million tons lies a significant opportunity to really decrease waste and direct more material towards its highest and best use.” At New York construction sites, 10% to 15% of all new materials are thrown away unused, said Tigera. So reuse has the potential to draw from brand new stock as well as used materials. And reuse can help address supply chain and affordability concerns; construction material costs have increased 43% since February 2020, said Tigera. “In terms of value for users, we can provide access to free and low-cost materials,” said Tigera. “We can provide tax write-offs for donated materials, and we also help sellers save on hauling and dumping costs.” From panels to seats Tigera gave a few examples of recent salvage efforts that have leveraged her marketplace. Deconstruction contractor CO Adaptive recovered wood panels from an auditorium at Hunter Brookdale School of Nursing. The panels ended up in four different sites around Brooklyn. Auditorium seats were donated to SoHo Playhouse. In another project, Orbit worked with the city’s Port Authority to salvage historic bricks from retaining walls in Lincoln Tunnel. Orbit is also working with the agency to design a reuse plan for a bus terminal that is scheduled to come down in a few years. New York City also has a new initiative called the Circular Construction Hub, which is going to be a reuse center for contractors where they can drop off material. Orbit is the online marketplace for that project, said Tigera. She added that some of the most popular materials on her platform have been doors, shelving, cabinets and acoustic panels. In addition to traditional contractors, buyers include the film industry (for building sets) and the events industry. A lot of reuse work is already happening around the city and country, “we’re just helping it scale,” said Tigera. Yarden Jarari, an architect and sustainability adviser at Arcadis , a design and engineering firm, said her recent research suggests the value of pilot projects when it comes to reuse in the C&D space. “You can have pilot projects that are not going to totally overwhelm someone trying something new,” she said. “And also iterate over time with a lot of long-term relationships where you have repeat partners, repeat teams, and have that opportunity to build and bite off more and more rather than trying to do everything at once.” Jarari added that she would like to see “ways that we can start to measure outbound materials that are coming out of a space the same way that we’re thinking about what’s going into a space.” Having that data could make it easier to drive reuse, she said. Sigal said certification systems, like those offered from the USGBC, can incentivize reuse. The organization’s True certification for zero waste (with Green Business Certification Inc.) has a particular focus on reuse, he noted. As a case study, Sigal mentioned 270 Park Ave. in midtown Manhattan. The 60-story headquarters of JPMorganChase opened in October 2025 as a LEED platinum project. The previous building at the site, the former headquarters for Union Carbide, was deconstructed, with 97% of its materials reused or recycled. Evolving mindset The panelists agreed that the mindset in the C&D industry is starting to tilt toward reuse, spurred by environmental and cost concerns. “Our thesis has been if we can provide demand and show that there’s demand for these materials, everything else will wind up behind it,” said Tigera. She added that government procurement can help drive more reuse in the industry. Tigera also pointed out that salvaged materials are often routed through resellers, who clean and organize them, making purchasing of used goods as easy as buying new. Sigal added that he would like to see more policy support for C&D reuse. In New York, several bills have been introduced that would bolster reporting and encourage reuse. “Building reuse saves carbon, but also saves resources from having to be extracted, harvested, manufactured and installed,” said Sigal. “Not to mention the end-of-life considerations there.” Read on Resource Recycling.