Ever wondered what happens to those soda cans after you toss them into your blue recycling bin for pickup?

The answer is: They don’t stay in Denton.

Soda cans, water bottles and other recyclables collected from local homes are hauled to Fort Worth for sorting, processing and resale, while items from Denton’s six drop-off sites and commercial recycling program end up in Plano.

DRC file photo/Barron Ludlum

Larry Taylor with Trinity Waste Services, now Allied Waste Services, picks up a recycle container in July 2006 in north Denton.

For years, Denton officials have wished for a local processing facility so materials don’t have to go out of town. The facility would significantly lower the cost of hauling items, allowing the city to provide more efficient and possibly larger commercial, school and public drop-off recycling programs.

The problem? A facility is expensive to build and maintain, and the city wanted a private company to shoulder the cost.

Now, city officials are negotiating a contract with Pratt Industries, a paper and packaging company based in Georgia, to finally build a processing plant in Denton.

“We’re very hopeful and optimistic” about the possible agreement, said Shirlene Sitton, city recycling manager. “The benefits to the city and our ability to deliver cost-efficient recycling programs will be enormous. It will bring some jobs to the city.

“I’m very excited about it.”

Through a proposed public-private partnership, Pratt Industries would fund the construction of a regional materials recovery facility at the city landfill site on Mayhill Road.

The company would operate the facility for at least the next 20 years, and the city would receive revenues from sending its residential and commercial recyclables there.

“We believe Denton and Pratt Industries are a great fit,” Pratt spokesman Michael O’Regan said. “Denton has successful recycling programs already in place, and citizens seem to have a very positive attitude towards recycling.”

The Denton Public Utilities Board tabled a vote on the contract Monday because negotiations were still under way. A final contract is expected go to the board Sept. 10 and to the City Council later in the month.

“We are very enthusiastic about it,” said Charldean Newell, utilities board chairwoman. “It’s a win-win thing.”

A city-run facility wouldn’t be cost-effective because Denton alone wouldn’t produce enough materials, Sitton said. But if Pratt Industries builds a facility here, the company would seek business from across the region, she said.

“There are many [area] cities that are growing, so this might help them get cost-efficient programs established,” Sitton said. “That’s obviously the hope of the recycling company.”

The company would have guaranteed business from Denton, which recycled more than 44,000 tons of materials — 27 percent of waste — through city-sponsored programs in fiscal 2006, according to city figures.

“It’s an opportunity for us to procure more paper to feed our recycling mills and make good on our slogan ‘Harvesting the Urban Forest,’” O’Regan said. “Plus we want to help raise Denton’s already impressive recycling rates.”

Phoenix-based Allied Waste Services, the city’s contractor for residential curbside recycling pickup, would begin delivering those recyclables to the local processing facility when it opened, instead of hauling them to Fort Worth, Sitton said.

Denton would also contribute recyclables collected through its city-run recycling program for businesses and public drop-off sites.

Denton began its residential curbside recycling program in 2002, partly in response to public demand.

The city is finishing work on a new five-year contract with Allied Waste Services, formerly Trinity Waste Services, to continue picking up recyclables from residential curbs, Sitton said. The current five-year contract ends Nov. 4.

City officials said they chose the Allied bid over offers from two other companies, IESI and Community Waste Disposal, because it was the best deal.

The per-residence monthly rate charged to the city would rise 80 cents, from $1.47 to $2.27, and be subject to fluctuation each year based on the Consumer Price Index and diesel fuel prices.

Residents would see a 50-cent increase in the monthly single-family residential recycling rate, currently $3.50. The rate helps pay for curbside and other city recycling programs.

LOWELL BROWN can be reached at 940-566-6882. His e-mail address is lmbrown@dentonrc.com.