St. Johns Recycling Center is set to close permanently on June 19 after more than 40 years of community service.
- The St. Johns Recycling Center is permanently closing on June 19 after more than 40 years of operation.
- The St. Johns Lions Club cited rising costs and a lack of donations as the reasons for the closure.
- The building will be converted into storage space for local businesses.
WATCH: St. Johns Recycling Center to permanently close its doors in June
The center, run by the St. Johns Lions Club, remains a busy drop-off site for many in Clinton County. However, rising costs and a lack of donations have made the operation unsustainable.
"We’re not making any money, we’re losing money. So it’s very unfortunate and it was a very tough decision to make," St. Johns Lions Club President Dean Hartenburg said.
Hartenburg told me they asked the community for donations to keep the center operating over the years, but failed to raise the necessary funds.
"There is no market for recycling anymore, and we’re actually paying to have our plastics taken away and put into the landfills, which is terrible," Hartenburg said.
The Lions Club plans to keep the building and transform it into storage space for local businesses.
"It just breaks my heart, and our membership all feels the same way. We just don’t have any other options at this point," Hartenburg said.
Neighbors who rely on the center are concerned about what the closure means for recycling in the community.
"Potentially result in less recycling," regular recycling center user Taylor Feldpausch said.
"It’ll definitely impact the way we recycle," Feldpausch said."We’ll probably have to take it some other place."
A list of other recycling options in Clinton County can be found here.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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