The Pleasant Prairie Village Board considered and approved a temporary recycling contract with Veolia Environmental Services during a June 1 meeting. Due to a changing recycling market that has experienced depressed values since November of 2008, the current Village recycling provider, One Source Recycling, is no longer able to meet the terms of the Village recycling contract.

Per the contract, One Source Recycling had agreed to pay the Village $3.00 per ton of recycled materials and cover transportation costs from Pleasant Prairie to a sorting facility in Illinois. The company is currently requiring a payment of $15.00 per ton and charging $370 per trailer load delivered to the facility. The expense associated with the change is $7,900 per month. "Because the Village lacks the capacity to store the average four semi loads of material that are collected per week, the Solid Waste Utility in the short-term has paid One Source for removal services," explained John Steinbrink Jr., Director of Public Works.

Pleasant Prairie collects recycling every other week from approximately 7,100 units. "The temporary recycling contract with Veolia is expected to save the Solid Waste Utility approximately $1,900 per month while a solution is sought." Representatives on behalf of the Village have provided One Source Recycling with notice of their breach of contract. Because the current solid waste contract expires this coming August, the Village is currently preparing a Request for Proposal for both single-stream recycling and solid waste disposal. "It is our goal to obtain the most competitive proposals with the best prices available for both services," added Steinbrink. "We are exploring all of our options."