The Park City Council unanimously agreed to move forward with a land transfer to Recycle Utah on Thursday night, opening the door for the facility’s expansion and transition to a property near U.S. 40.
“We have so much support, but it actually goes beyond support because it’s about collaboration,” said Recycle Utah Executive Director Andy Hecht. “Everyone knows us as the recycling center, but when you come down here to recycle your materials, you quickly realize this is a community hub, and that’s what we’re leaning into.”
Park City Municipal initially told Recycle Utah it would need to vacate its current location on Woodbine Way by September because of an impending city construction project. However, Hecht announced last week that Recycle Utah and the city had negotiated to allow the facility to remain on Woodbine Way until March to help with the transition.
“We were looking at timelines and saying to ourselves, ‘We don’t want to close Recycle Utah for any amount of time because we want continuity,’” Hecht said. “It would be horrible if we had to close our doors for a period of time between the land deal and Woodbine Way’s construction.”
Now, with the land transfer in its final stages, Recycle Utah is in the process of planning for its big move. Hecht said he was particularly grateful for the extension because it gives Recycle Utah time to set up a temporary facility on its new property as the organization works to design and build its permanent space.
“We can add value to the recycling program across the whole county, but we have a chance to do something more,” Hecht said about the design process. “Our mission at Recycle Utah is to help people live sustainable lives … so, right now, for the new facility, we’re forming visioning groups, and we’re going out and talking to other people working in these sustainability spaces.”
Hecht said there’s a possibility Recycle Utah could become a hub for other nonprofits, too, by offering office space, storage space, a commercial kitchen or other amenities that organizations often struggle to find.
“We had this imminent date in September over our heads for a while, so we started moving quickly,” Hecht said. “We have an architectural design board together, and we’ve been working with an architect. Knowing that land was probably going to be ours, we continued to thread the needle forward in all other areas we could, so we’re pretty far along.”
He estimated the team is a little more than halfway through the schematic design process, which will be followed by the organization’s fundraising efforts to cover the capital costs.
“That’s really what we’re focused on right now,” Hecht said, referring to the capital campaign. “That’s the point where we’ll get to share business plans with everyone, and that’s the point where we’ll say, ‘Hey, this is what we think we can do, this is what we need to do it with and this is what we’re after.’”
Hecht said he couldn’t share a specific date regarding the campaign’s start, but he was confident it would launch before the end of the year. He also praised the Park City Council, Summit County Council and community members for their support and continued collaboration in finding a solution.
“For 35 years, Recycle Utah has been in the heart of Park City on this tiny fourth-of-an-acre lot, and we’ve had an amazing impact in this little spot,” Hecht said. “Now, we’re growing. We’re going to have 4 acres to expand our programming, expand our diversion, expand our recycling, expand everything that makes Recycle Utah what it is, and we’re going to be doing it in the heart of Summit County.”