For city leaders, recycling typically is a no-brainer, both environmentally virtuous and a money-maker. Now, plunging commodities prices have Houston facing, for the first time, the prospect of paying nearly twice as much to get rid of the cardboard, bottles and cans its residents roll to the curb as it costs to send them to the landfill.

City Council this week will consider a four-year deal with Waste Management that will increase the fees the city pays the company to process its recyclables and will, for the first time, put Houston on the hook if the firm cannot cover its costs by reselling the recycled items.

Read more: City’s free ride to recycling success about to end