By Billy Davis

Panola County is in the infant stages of collecting recyclables in Batesville after winning a bid to do so, County Administrator Kelley Magee said Thursday.

A preliminary plan is to collect plastics and paper on city property on Van Voris Street, she said, though she stressed that plan is only a suggestion at this point.

“Technically we haven’t won the bid yet,” Magee noted, after Batesville aldermen opened bids and took them under advisement at their April 17 meeting.

Panola County Solid Waste submitted the lowest bid to continue its trash pick-up service and included a bid to collect recyclables at no charge.

The Panolian reported Tuesday that City of Batesville officials opened bids from Solid Waste and two private companies for garbage collection.

Solid Waste bid $8.75 per month per household while Waste Management bid $11.92 and Republic bid $13.64.

Panola County also submitted a bid to collect recyclables at no charge while Waste Management bid $200 per haul. Republic did not bid on recycling.

Mississippi law requires the county administrator to oversee a solid waste department for county government.

Further explaining a current idea, Magee said the drop-off boxes on Van Voris could be delivered to the county’s road department shop in Courtland, where they will be sorted then hauled away.

Magee said she is talking to a City of Oxford official about that city’s recycling department collecting Batesville’s recyclables.

The Miss. Department of Environmental Quality has grant monies available to purchase recycling equipment, which the county will apply for, she also said.