City of Columbia resumes residential cardboard recycling
Marie Moyer
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
City of Columbia residents are now having their cardboard curbside recycling recycled, instead of being diverted to a landfill.
The recycling center has resumed processing residential paper and cardboard, according to Columbia Utilities. That service hasn’t been available since spring, when a tornado destroyed the recycling center.
In an email, Utilities spokesman Jason West said there are some limitations to paper processing due to weather. The processing center currently does not have a roof or walls, leaving both machinery and stored paper material vulnerable to rot and damage.
“When it is not too windy and not rainy, we will be able to bale the material,” West said. “However, if the wind is blowing too much or if the material is already wet when collected, we will not be able to bale every day until the area is at least covered.”
“Extremely low temperatures could also cause us not to be able to use the machinery because it is just sitting outside and we don’t have a heat source down here,” Recovery Superintendent for Solid Waste Tom Elliott said.
According to Elliott, crews collect around three bales worth of fiber recycling every recycling route, with three to four routes run per day. One storage container that is shipped off holds 28 bales.
Elliott added there are no immediate plans to reopen drop-off recycling centers in the city. Residents can continue separating paper waste from other recyclables and leaving them either in another container or alongside the recycling during curb-side pickup. Residents in complexes with recycling dumpsters should also continue separating materials. Wax and plastic-covered paper is also not accepted.
“We are bailing and selling this material, so the cleaner, the material, the better,” Elliott said. “If we can remove the contaminants in the waste from both the containers, the mixed containers, and the mixed fiber, that would help us tremendously.”
The Material Recovery Facility in Columbia was destroyed by an EF-1 tornado on April 20.
Columbia resident Samantha Harrison hopes for the city to start accepting other items, like glass. However, she said this is a step in the right direction.
“Recycling is a great thing for the earth, I think we need to do as much as we can right now,” Harrison said. “Anything that the city can put towards it is incredible.”