Park City, Summit County advance plans for recycling program as Recycle Utah’s future grows murkier

City council liason says he was left out of key decisions, calls for transparency as Recycle Utah faces uncertainty

PARK CITY, Utah — Summit County and Park City officials are planning a new regional recycling program that would phase out Recycle Utah’s long-standing role as the county’s primary drop-off center, according to a joint draft letter dated May 19, obtained by TownLift.

The letter, awaiting the signatures of Park City Mayor Nann Worel and Summit County Council Chair Tonja Hanson, is addressed to Recycle Utah General Jim Bedell and Board Chair Ken Barfield, and announces the governments’ intention to launch a new recycling collection model by June 2026.

The plan includes multiple satellite drop-off locations throughout the county and a centralized site which will replace the nonprofit’s current Prospector location once its lease expires, June 30 2026.

The letter has not yet been sent to Recycle Utah. Despite discussions, which Bedell said were ongoing, the nonprofit was not aware of the governments’ plan.

“I haven’t seen a letter,” Bedell said in an interview May 22. “If and when we do, we’ll discuss it with our board and respond accordingly.”

On Friday, city officials said the letter is a draft and was circulated to City and County officials by Deputy Summit County Manager, Janna Young as “part of ongoing policy discussions.”

Clayton Scrivner, Communications Manager for Park City Municipal said it is normal to circulate draft letters amid ongoing policy discussions.

Young’s cover email however also suggests action.

“The purpose of the letter is to be fully transparent with Recycle Utah about our planning efforts and communicate that we are moving forward without their collections facility, but there is an opportunity for a continued partnership if they are interested,” Young’s email said.

It also proposes a joint communications effort.

“We would like to present the letter to Ken Barfield and Jim Bedell in person ahead of Recycle Utah’s June board meeting and request they join us in a joint public statement outlining the future approach and potential partnership,” Young’s email said.

The news comes after years of discussion between local officials and the nonprofit, which has warned for over a year that it must relocate and expand its facility to keep pace with demand. It also has sat on city-owned land that has been slated to be part of the Bonanza Park development.

Park City Municipal once considered siting Recycle Utah on the City-owned Gordo parcel along Highway 248, but eventually shifted to the County-owned Gilmore parcel where Park City Municipal has an agreement for deeded acreage from Summit County. 

Recycle Utah receives subsidies from Park City Municipal, and serves residents and businesses throughout Summit County from its current home. Additional funding comes from grants and fundraising it pursues as a 501c3. 

The non profit engaged a consultant to evaluate potential locations and facilities which determined it would require 5 acres to construct a $25 million regional recycling center that would more effectively serve greater Summit County and increase rates of diverting solid waste from landfills. But Recycle Utah has emphasized that it cannot fund such a project on its own.

Park City Councilmember Bill Ciraco, the city’s official liaison to Recycle Utah, expressed frustration saying the draft decision caught him by surprise.

“I wasn’t part of the decision-making process that said that’s the offer we were going to make,” Ciraco said. “By the time I was brought in, the decision had already been made.”

Ciraco has become one of the most vocal supporters of Recycle Utah’s vision, calling on the county to step up and lead on what he says is a clear public infrastructure need.

“Recycle Utah is not asking for a blank check,” he said. “They’ve said, ‘Here’s the need. Here’s a proposed solution. We can help operate it, we can raise money for programming, but we can’t build this ourselves.’ This is a county function, and the county should be leading on it.”

In a public meeting last week, Park City Councilmember Jeremy Rubell raised questions about Recycle Utah’s future. Mayor Worel responded by emphasizing that city and county staff have been working on a new waste diversion strategy in an apparent reference to the letter.

“Our sustainability manager and the deputy county manager have met to come up with a kind of a county recycling waste diversion proposal,” Worel said. “I believe we’ll be getting a report on that fairly soon.”

The letter suggests Recycle Utah could still play a limited role, including hosting household hazardous waste events or monitoring new drop-off sites for contamination and community outreach. But for Ciraco and others, that’s a far cry from the regional role Recycle Utah has proposed.

“Instead of stepping up to meet a growing need, the county is trying to make it sound like Recycle Utah is being difficult,” Ciraco said. “But really, they’re just bringing forward a problem we’ve known about for years—and asking our governments to solve it.”

He also noted that Recycle Utah currently diverts over 3.5 million pounds of material annually and saves the county an estimated $350,000 in landfill costs—savings that could rise to $1 million if the nonprofit expands.

Recycle Utah has already announced it will stop accepting materials by June 30, 2026, in anticipation of closing its Woodbine Way facility by September of that year. County and city leaders say more details about the new system will be discussed as early as June 12.