IBJ: Curbside recycling could bring jobs, business

Read the full story by Taylor Wooten here.

Moves to finally rid Indianapolis of its distinction as the nation’s largest city without a universal curbside recycling program will benefit current businesses focused on recycling and could spur related economic development, advocates say.

Two national recyclers with Indiana operations, Atlanta-based Pratt Industries and Houston-based Strategic Materials, say the change would reduce their need here to import materials from other states by increasing the local supply.

The recycling program, which the city hopes to launch early in 2026, would provide those businesses with an increase of nearly 50,000 tons of in-state materials. Now, both companies need to import materials from as far away as Canada.

The move toward recycling also could help make the case for an in-state glass-processing facility and draw manufacturers that use recycled materials, creating hundreds of jobs.

The city’s Department of Public Works recently issued a request for information that is intended to signal to the industry that the city is interested in expanding local recycling-processing options, according to Morgan Mickelson, director of the Office of Sustainability.

Marion County currently has three trash haulers: DPW oversees four waste districts, Republic Services oversees six, and Waste Management has one. This waste is taken to the incinerator on South Harding Street operated by New Jersey-based Covanta or to the South Side Landfill on Kentucky Avenue. Recycled items are taken to one of three Republic Services locations or picked up from a drop-off location by the same entity.

The goal for establishing universal curbside recycling was set for 2026 because that’s when the city is due to renegotiate contracts with the two hauling contractors, the incinerator service and the landfill. There will also be a long-overdue realignment of the sanitation districts, said Abbey Brands, deputy director of policy and planning for the Department of Public Works.