After months of uncertainty about Recycle Utah’s future, Park City Municipal announced in October it will give Summit County and Recycle Utah the rights to use four acres of land off U.S. 40 near Silver Summit.
Recycle Utah Operations Director Troy Holding said the nonprofit is ironing out details with the city and should sign an official agreement in the coming weeks.
“It seems like everything that we had questions about the city and the county felt comfortable with and so we should be moving forward with it,” he said.
The city proposed a lease-to-own agreement. Holding said the nonprofit’s board is working with an architect and developer to build the new facility. The team wants to nail down the specific costs for a new building, as it’s likely it will require a capital campaign funded in part by community donors.
Holding said the most cost-effective option is likely a large prefabricated structure that would be built in a factory and transported to the construction site for assembly.
“We don't need this to be the Taj Mahal,” Holding said. “We just want this to be purpose-built and also build it so that it can last the next, you know, at least 30 years, the same as we've operated in the current site.”
The new site will likely look similar to the current one, just larger. But Holding said bigger changes will happen behind the scenes.
With the extra space, Holding said the nonprofit's goal is to participate in more commercial diversion and have ACE Disposal and Momentum Recycling drop off material.
“Currently, they're hauling it all the way down to Salt Lake, and so we may be able to build a facility up here where they're not having to drive trucks up and down the canyon,” he said. “The cost savings will, you know, downstream, help the city and the county.”
Recycle Utah was previously told it must leave its location in Bonanza Park by Sept. 1, 2026, so the city can redevelop the area. But Holding said if the nonprofit’s new facility isn’t finished by then, the city will likely work with them.
“I don't think that they want to see us be homeless,” he said. “While they're not going to extend our lease indefinitely, if we're under construction and there's the intent to build, there might be some flexibility, although they haven't come out formally.”
In the future, Holding said Recycle Utah will look at expanding its food waste capacity and may start taking yard waste.
