Lawrence County commissioners have turned down part of a two-part state recycling grant that was to have benefited Lawrence and Mercer counties.

What that means to Mercer County, which had joined with Lawrence to participate in the grant, isn't clear.

Lawrence Commissioner Roger M. DeCarbo said he and Commissioner Brian Burick passed a resolution Tuesday to accept bids for traditional recycling bins, instead of special V-Quip bins, which were specified in the grant.

Lawrence Commissioner Ed Fosnaught voted against the move.

The V-Quip bins are used in Mercer County at the Shenango Valley Mall and sites in Shenango and Wilmington townships.

The counties had been awarded a $2.3 million state grant with $1 million of it to buy bins for recycling drop-off points in Lawrence and the rest to establish a collection center, which Mercer commissioners proposed for Wilmington Township, Mercer County.

Residents would bring their recyclables to neighborhood drop-off points, and the items in those bins would be trucked to the collection center.

DeCarbo said he could not justify the expense of using the Canadian-made V-Quip bins over traditional recycling bins. The V-Quip bins would have cost about $900,000, while the traditional bins would cost about $300,000, he said.

"We can buy a lot more of them and they will be a lot less expensive," DeCarbo said of the traditional bins, adding that more sites can be set up in the county for residents to drop off recyclable materials.

Lawrence also will accept bids from recycling haulers, who will be less expensive than hiring a V-Quip-equipped firm, DeCarbo said.

"If we go with private haulers, it may not cost us anything," he said.

Whatever money is not spent could be turned over to Mercer County to go toward the recycling collection station, DeCarbo said.

Mercer Commissioner Olivia M. Lazor said she does not know if the Lawrence commissioners' action means Mercer will lose out on the grant.

"I wasn't sure that that was going to be a deal breaker," she said. "I haven't head from DEP that we lost that."

Mercer Commissioner Kenneth Seamans said he has been in touch with DEP and believes they are willing to work with Mercer commissioners to save the grant.

"I think they're going to give us a little more time to get something done," he said. "We're still trying to do our best to save (it)."