Beginning Oct. 3, the transfer stations on Orcas and San Juan Islands will be closed on Saturdays to reduce the Solid Waste Utility’s operating costs. The utility’s revenue has dropped this year because it is receiving and handling less solid waste.

Both transfer stations will continue to be open to all customers Wednesday through Fridays from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., and on Sundays 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

The elimination of Saturday hours will reduce the cost of operating the two solid waste facilities by approximately $40,000 per year.

On Lopez Island, the Solid Waste Utility expects to reduce costs by approximately $45,000 per year by switching from customer-sorted recycling to the co-mingled recycling system already used on Orcas and San Juan Island. According to Utility Manager Ed Hale, handling co-mingled recycling is much less labor intensive than the current baling and transportation operation used on Lopez, and is just as effective at reclaiming recyclable materials.

The County’s Solid Waste Utility receives 95 percent of its revenue from fees charged for handling solid waste by weight and collects no fees on materials dropped off for recycling.

Since March of this year, the volume solid waste tonnage countywide is 21 percent lower than during the same period 2008 and operating revenue for the last eight months is down by $268,000. At the same time the utility is facing both operating cost increases and state-mandated capital upgrades to its facilities.

Hale emphasized that the immediate revenue shortfall is the result of what he expects will be a short term reduction in solid waste volume; but that a longer term solution will be needed to fund capital improvements – especially as the Utility moves toward building a replacement for the transfer station on San Juan Island.

The County Council is scheduled to hear recommendations from the Solid Waste Advisory Committee on September 14 concerning a new Solid Waste Utility rate structure aimed at solving the longer term problem.