Sedona Recycles will not be collecting recyclables in Cornville or the Village of Oak Creek after Monday, May 2.
Yavapai County currently funds the Sedona Recycles’ nine drop-off locations, including the three locations that will be closed at the Cornville Market, Oak Creek School and the VOC location off of Verde Valley School Road.
After Cornville and the VOC residents were flooded with rumors about the free recycling being taken away, the Sedona Recycles nonprofit organization confirmed the news on its website.
According to the Sedona Recycles Board, the decision was made by Yavapai County after the organization notified the county last fall regarding the loss of profit due to inflation and increased business costs.
The Sedona Recycles Board of Directors released a statement that read, “Sedona Recycles cannot continue to operate at a loss if we want to stay in business. Additionally, the cost of freight, diesel, insurance and many other costs have drastically increased in the past few months since we first approached this situation in the fall.”
Before the decision to terminate the Cornville and Village of Oak Creek locations, Sedona Recycles requested a new contract for a minimal increase of monthly payments to maintain services. Sedona Recycles also requested a proposal to have a new contract in the future with an updated cost of doing business rather than the previous contract that expired in November, but the county responded that no RFP would be issued.
With the contract between the county and Sedona Recycles expiring in late November 2021, the nonprofit and the county agreed to continue operations in Cornville and the Village of Oak Creek through the holidays.
The board of directors’ statement went on to state, “We are disappointed that Yavapai County was unable to negotiate the terms of the contract that became unsustainable due to factors totally unforeseeable to all parties; we at Sedona Recycles would have appreciated an opportunity to continue to provide recycling drop off sites for their residents.”
The county issued a statement April 21 that read, “While the long-standing contracts between the county and Sedona Recycles to manage these facilities were renewed in late 2021, Sedona Recycles exercised their contractual right to issue a 30-day notice to the county stating their intent to terminate these contracts, effective May 2.
“Yavapai County will continue to explore other avenues to promote recycling in the Verde Valley, but in the meantime, there are private options for recycling available in the area.”
The five Sedona locations at Posse Grounds Park, Uptown, Sedona Cultural Park, the material recovery facility and Mountain Shadows Drive, as well as the Jerome location off of Main Street will all still be free and open for public use.
Sedona Recycles has been operating out of Yavapai County for two decades with thousands of customers in the Verde Valley. Currently, Sedona Recycles is led by Executive Director Kathleen Ventura, President of the Board Doug Copp and along with the other directors on the board.
The Yavapai County Board of Supervisors did not respond when asked for more information regarding the county’s decision.
