The local nonprofit Recycle Ann Arbor announced today that the Drop-Off Station (DOS) at 2950 E. Ellsworth will reduce days of operation starting March 1. The station will cut back from five to three days of operation but will offer later hours for customer convenience.

Hours of operation will be 8:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday, and 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. on Saturday each week.

Details on the materials accepted and fees assessed at the Drop-Off Station are posted online and by phone at 734-662-6288.

“The DOS serves an important function for many residents and businesses by offering a comprehensive location to bring a wide range of papers and containers as well as harder-to-recycle materials, including electronics, Styrofoam, fluorescent light bulbs, Freon appliances, automotive fluids, rechargeable batteries and hardcover books,” observes Recycle Ann Arbor’s CEO Melinda Uerling.

She adds, “This location is also convenient for dropping off scrap metals, construction debris, yard waste, trash and purchasing bulk quantities of municipal compost and wood mulch.”

According to Uerling, the Drop-Off Station has been operating at a deficit for over a year, following the loss of long-time funding from the county, city, and neighboring communities, which helped offset expenses. A strategy that implemented a $3 user fee in January 2010 has not made up the difference.

“The $3 entry fee brought in some revenue but also reduced customer traffic and did not recoup the lost funds,” Uerling observes. “We attempted something unusual for a full-service, five-days-per-week public recycling drop-off site — that is, operating entirely without public funding — but unfortunately, it was not a workable model.”

Uerling expects the DOS to continue to provide the same wide range of services but on a more limited timeframe each week. She also directs customers to patronize the related RAA operations of the ReUse Center at 2420 S. Industrial for reusable building materials and household goods and Calvert’s Roll-Off Containers at 7891 Jackson Road for construction and demolition debris recycling with public recycling drop-off options.

“Ann Arbor residents signing up for the free Recyclebank.com recycling rewards program are eligible to download two free passes to the Drop-Off Station as one of their reward options,” adds the city’s solid waste coordinator Tom McMurtrie.

He hopes that this incentive — along with the reduced hours of operation and return of the compost sale season in spring — will help bolster the success of the Drop-Off Station.

For 24-hour information on the city’s solid waste services, phone 99-GREEN or consult the city’s web site at www.a2gov.org/recycle.

Nancy Stone is the Communications Liaison for Public Services at the City of Ann Arbor. She can be reached at nstone@a2gov.org. Visit www.a2gov.org for more information on local environmental topics including recycling, composting, water conservation, and choices for green living.

Your World provides local environmental information to our community. Contributing partners include: Washtenaw County’s Environmental Health Division; the nonprofit Recycle Ann Arbor; the City of Ann Arbor’s Public Services Area, Natural Area Preservation, Systems Planning programs for Energy, Environmental Coordination, Solid Waste, Transportation, and Water Resources.