Brookhaven has suspended its recycling program, effective immediately.

During Tuesday evening’s meeting of the Board of Aldermen, Richard Urrutia of Arrow Disposal Services Inc. — the city’s residential garbage collection service — informed the board that there are no longer any recycling vendors within the Brookhaven market area. ADSI contacted various recycling processing plants and discovered that several have ceased operations due to the crash of the global recycling market. Vendors that remain open are charging exorbitant fees and requiring unrealistic guidelines, Urrutia said. Many municipalities across the country have been forced to drastically reduce or cease their recycling programs.

“This means that effective immediately, ADSI will have no choice but to stop picking up recycled products placed at the curb in recycle bins,” said Mayor Joe Cox. “All residents within Brookhaven city limits need to immediately begin combining their recyclable materials with their regular household garbage and place it in secured plastic bags in your ADSI household garbage bins. ADSI will deliver the mix of recyclable material and household garbage to the City’s transfer station until further notice. In the meantime, ADSI will continue seeking out other possible recyclable processing plants for our city.”