Montgomery officials gave an update on the progress of Repower South, the company partnered with the city to revive single-bin recycling after more than two years without a residential option. The January deadline comes as the company continues to outfit the facility, worth $37 million, with more than $6 million in additional equipment.
“This is state of the art,” said Mayor Todd Strange, referencing the new part of the facility, paid for by Repower, that will take materials and turn them into fuel, which he said will help offset overhead costs and the potential of low commodity prices that doomed the original facility.
Barry Crabb, finance director for the city, said there are currently about 15 people working at the facility in preparation. It is expected that the new equipment will be installed around mid-December and functioning by early January. Once open, Crabb said there will be about 65 employees.
At the end of 2017, Strange said it was a priority of his to make Montgomery a greener city and bring back recycling. Originally, he hoped the facility would open in October. In June, the city announced its partnership with Repower South and set a deadline for November or December. “It is all about Montgomery being an environmental city, a green city and a place that millennials want to be,” Strange said in June.
The question that still lingers is whether the city will produce enough waste at the facility. The mixed-materials method used in 2015 failed due to a low commodities market for recyclables and the perception by some in the recycling industry that mixed-materials recycling facilities — often called “dirty MRFs” — produce low-quality recyclables due to contamination from other garbage.
That same method will be used when recycling returns next year. Residents will not have to change habits and will continue to throw all waste into one bin. Some recycling companies that examined the facility in 2016 said Montgomery does not produce enough trash to sustain a facility of that size.
But officials say the addition of machinery that will create fuel products, which was planned but never implemented in the original facility, will prove to be the catalyst for success this round.
Aside from environmental benefits, officials on Thursday were touting the cost-saving measures that would come as a part of recycling, saying it will lower landfill costs for years to come.