HAMILTON — An Allegan County recycling depot in Hamilton will close permanently, the county announced last week.
The recycling station at 3310 M-40, owned and operated by Republic Services for Allegan County, was a drop-off location for "difficult to recycle" items such as tires and electronics.
The depot, previously open for three hours twice a month, is already closed for the winter season and will not reopen in March. Republic Services plans to sell the site.
Allegan County Recycling Coordinator Rosemary Graham said the county agreed to the closure after consulting with municipalities that participate in the depot program. Fifteen municipalities in Allegan County fund the regional recycling depot program.
There are two other regional recycling depots: the Broken Arrow Recycling center in Allegan, 1100 Lincoln Rd (M-89), and Salem Township Transfer Station, 4145 29th Street, Dorr.
Broken Arrow Recycling is open 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday and accepts electronics, tv/monitors, polystyrene, tires, appliances, metal and cardboard.
Salem Township Transfer Station is open 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on the first and third Saturday of the month, March through December. It accepts electronics, tv/monitors (with a $3 fee), polystyrene, tires, appliances, metal and co-mingled recyclables.
Residents must bring a resource recovery card along to show they reside in a participating township. Resource recovery cards are available from township and city offices.
Graham said she believes the two depots have the capacity to handle additional materials with the closure of the Hamilton site, and she will be monitoring how much they are used to see if either site needs to expand.
"And we're always open to feedback and responses," Graham said, pointing to an online inquiry form for the public to offer feedback and ask questions about the recycling program.
Recycling in Allegan County is funded through a Public Act 69 of 2005 model. Municipalities that want to participate can enter into an agreement with Allegan County to provide resource recovery services and add a voluntary $25 recycling surcharge to residents' property tax bills to fund those services.
Municipalities can also place a recycling surcharge of more than $25 and up to $50 on the ballot for their residents to vote on.
Currently, 18 of 33 municipalities participate in the Allegan County Resource Recovery Program with different levels of service. Some municipalities offer curbside recycling; others offer a drop-off site for recyclables.
The Allegan County Board of Commissioners has authorized municipalities to hold elections this August on the $50 recycling surcharge.
Information about Allegan County's recycling services is available at allegancounty.org/health/recycling-program.