Recycling plant opens in Taylor

The first single-stream recycling facility in Central Texas has opened in Williamson County.

"We can separate all of the components and package it up," said John Rabon, with GM Wilco Recycling.

Wilco Recycling is a private venture that built a $6 million facility in Taylor, and it opened in September.

Before this facility was built, garage haulers were traveling down to San Antonio to take recyclables.

"It makes it not cost-effective and not environmentally responsible," said Rabon.

So it's not a surprise that several area haulers are now bringing upwards of 2,000 tons of trash per month -- 40 tons is just in aluminum cans, which is nearly 3 million cans.

It then gets sold on the market.

"Aluminum cans can be anywhere worth 50 cents a pound to $1 a pound, depending on the demand for the product," said Rabon.

Part of that profit gets passed onto the garage hauler.

"One of the big deals is by having a local single-stream recycling is for our local companies that collect the solid waste to lower their prices on curbside recycling single-stream recycling," said Taylor City Manager Jim Dunaway.

Taylor benefits with new jobs and new property taxes from the company, which gets passed onto local schools.

And with recycling efforts growing every year, Wilco Recycling is banking on residents' trash to help the company grow.

On a side note: While the city of Taylor is now home to the single-stream recycling center, they do not offer curbside pick up for single-stream recycling.

The City Council is currently looking into making that change.