In June, the Kanawha County Solid Waste Authority turned a profit for the first time in about a year, banking $446.
"It's not much," said James Young, the authority's executive director, "but considering we were losing $8,000 to $10,000..."
The profit comes after the Solid Waste Authority decided to no longer accept recyclables from businesses, started bringing recyclables to Beckley instead of WV Cashin and went through a quasi-takeover by the Kanawha County Commission. The county now pays Young's salary.
The small profit did little to counteract the $16,193 net loss for the solid waste authority during fiscal year 2016 - a loss that was cushioned by a $50,000 contribution from the Kanawha County Commission and Department of Environmental Protection.
Because the solid waste authority is in a gray area, where neither the state nor the county is legally responsible for paying for the public service it provides, it's been left to figure out how to make money in order to stay afloat.
Young, who has said that recycling isn't about making a profit, is still optimistic about the future.
"I really believe the losses are stabilizing," he said.
Plans to sell the Slack Street location and purchase a new building to stem losses in the long term were stalled by the flooding that swept through Kanawha County in late July.
Young said that county attorney Marc Slotnick and deputy county manager Andrew Gunnoe were looking into any restrictions on selling the property before the flooding hit.
Young said that a few people have already expressed interest in the property and that they will pursue the sale more when the flood response has died down.
The Solid Waste Authority also is working with Gunnoe to look into legal action against WV Cashin, the company who used to process Kanawha County's recyclables.
In May, the company abruptly stopped accepting recyclables from the county and took back their recycling bins.
"There are some damages and harm for what they did so abruptly to us," Young said.
He said that the authority was left without service for a period of time and had to find a place to bring their material. It has been taking recyclables to Jackson and Raleigh counties since.
"At the end of the day we're probably better off," Young said. "But during the time period, we were left without any recycling resource."
The Solid Waste Authority is preparing to be a resource for the county during the upcoming Kanawha County cleanups.
The first cleanup will take place on Aug. 6 in Cabin Creek, followed by another in Sissonville on Oct. 8.
The landfill ban on electronics was lifted by the state Legislature last spring, but the county will still collect electronics that are more easily recycled, like flat screens, laptops and newer technology.
The county is purchasing three additional roll-off bins for the event. They will store the bins with the Solid Waste Authority.
"The plan is to phase out Waste Management because they're kind of expensive," Young said.
The authority also plans on putting its old roll off truck and a forklift out for bid.
Reach Daniel Desrochers at dan.desrochers@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4886 or follow @drdesrochers on Twitter.