Recycle Utah Director Carolyn Wawra says her facility is key to keeping up with the demand of the growing community.
“I think we're feeling a lot of crunches the rest of town is feeling and, you know, as a nonprofit, I want to grow and I want to do things differently, and our site’s kind of the thing holding us back right now,” she says.
The current Recycle Utah Park City center is located at the bend of Munchkin Road and Woodbine Way.
“We just want to make sure this new council is aware that our site's kind of at capacity right now,” Wawra says. “We've been pressured to take new items or expand what we're doing and there's no more space. We’re full. Christmas time, we couldn't get trucks to come in and pick up our stuff because we got a lot of snow over Christmas, and, you know, big semi trucks don't want to pull into our little lot. That's a tough corner to make.”
At a recent Park City Council meeting, Wawra brought up the need to relocate.
Last fall, the council tabled a proposal for a soils management facility on a property called Gordo that would’ve included a new headquarters for Recycle Utah.
That land is on the eastern edge of the city along State Route 248. People in the community raised concerns about soil contamination from the area’s mining history, and many spoke against the facility during a public outreach period.
Park City Councilor Becca Gerber says after the public opposition to the Gordo sites, the council hopes to work with Recycle Utah on other places to build a new site.
“We’re kind of getting back to the table right now to continue discussing,” Gerber says. “There might be some other parcels of land in the city or in the county that might work even better than that parcel. So, we look forward to continuing this conversation. We've kind of had a pause, while we've been onboarding our new council member and new mayor. Recycle Utah has been such a great community partner, and we look forward to helping them find a forever home that meets their needs and allows them to grow and serve our community and the greater Park City area.”
Wawra says she wants to schedule a work session with the council. She hopes to get on the same page with its new members about more than just a new location for Recycle Utah.
“I want to be aware of everything around us,” Wawra says. “You know, we have the Homestake lot on one side of us, the arts and culture district on the other side, and we sit in the middle these two big projects, and I don't want those projects to take off and us get left behind and forgotten - or no plan for us or a very short-term plan that doesn't allow us to be effectively moved and reset for community. The worst thing would be to close and tell the community, ‘Hey, there's no recycling for nine months because we didn't make plans very well.’”
For more on Recycle Utah and upcoming events and special disposal days it’s hosting, visit recycleutah.org.
