Nearly 30 residents gathered at the Mercer Island Library last Thursday for a “Friends of the Recycling Center” group meeting. The reason for the congregation: brainstorming ideas for the future of Mercer Island’s only recycling facility.

But before the group could talk about the future, it needed to understand the present.

“One of the main purposes of this meeting is to get clarity on the status of the Recycle Center,” said Harry Leavitt, who has run the facility for years. “Supposedly, we’re on the Mercer Island School District’s insurance policy until March 1. When the insurance runs out, we will be inoperable.”

Although the school district is no longer overseeing the Recycling Center, Executive Director of Business Services Dean Mack said he does not know where Leavitt developed the notion of a March insurance deadline.

“I don’t know where that came from. It’s never come from the district because I would know,” he said, adding that the Recycling Center’s insurance policy is “part of our overall district policy.”

As far as Mac is concerned, the matter is about demand, not insurance.

Earlier this fall, the MISD decided to relinquish responsibility of the Recycling Center due to dwindling funds and waning demand. Market prices for recyclables have dropped steeply, and the Island facility is losing approximately $1,500 per year. What’s more, nearly 90 percent of Islanders use Allied Waste’s curbside recycling program.

The MISD has operated the Recycling Center since 1975 through the Mercer Island High School’s Committee to Save the Earth Club. Without a faculty advisor, this club is no longer official, although there are still a handful of student members, two of whom — Tyler Loughran and Daniel McKnight — are passionately devoted to the Recycling Center.

The end of this operation poses a serious question for the city, which owns the property adjacent to Mercerdale Park: What will replace this Island niche of conservation?

And this is what Leavitt and fellow Friends of the Recycling Center met to discuss last Thursday.

“We must consider what’s best for this land,” said Islander Rick Power.

Mercer Island Youth and Family Services Director Cindy Goodwin, breathed life into the meeting with news that she has applied to the Bainbridge Graduate Institute — whose mission is to infuse environmentally and socially responsible business innovation into general business practice — for support in allowing the center to continue in some sort of sustainable service capacity.

Yet Goodwin was quick to remind listeners that the ultimate decision is not hers. Although she represents the city, her job is solely to facilitate dialog and ideas.

“I wrote this grant, but I won’t be making the decision,” she said, adding that the city is always open to public input. “I think the city is waiting for recommendations. So put your ideas out there. This is not an either-or thing.”

A wide variety of ideas were floated at the Dec. 17 meeting; from turning the facility over to Youth and Family Services in connection with the Thrift Shop, to finding a company willing to take on management of the center, to transforming the property into a new sustainability project.

Some who attended the meeting want to keep the Recycling Center going, as they do not participate in the city’s curbside recycling service. These residents, according to Allied Waste, are still paying for recycle pick-up, whether they use the service or not. According to a company representative, Allied is required by state mandate to include recycling in its curbside program. Each Island resident receives a recycling bin for free. One reason some Islanders choose not to use this service, Leavitt said, is because they do not feel that Allied will properly recycle their materials.

“Many are bothered by the mixing of recyclables in curbside service,” he said. “They like to see that we separate [recyclables] at the center.”

Despite varying personal opinions and ideas, the group’s overall ambition was clear: to maintain and promote sustainability on the Island.

And this is a chord that all three parties involved — the city, the school district and Friends of the Recycling Center — can harmonize on.

“We are looking at the center and trying to determine what are the best options,” Mack said. “We’ll be working with the city over the next couple of months to figure out what our involvement should be.”

Meanwhile, Islanders still filter into the center with their recyclables, although fewer and fewer are coming these days. And Leavitt still shows up weekly; separating glass from plastic, newspaper from cardboard — chatting with visitors just as he’s done for years.

The Recycling Center is currently open from 9 a.m. on Fridays to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Mondays. It is closed at all other times. Please do not leave items.