Columbia to resume some recycling under new guidelines
Madison Stuerman
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Columbia’s Solid Waste utility will immediately start collecting some recyclable materials under new guidelines.
On Tuesday, the City of Columbia announced it will start recycling some items after partnering with Federal Recycling & Waste Solutions in Jefferson City.
The new guidelines allow for customers to use the blue recycling bags for plastic bottles, plastic containers, aluminum beverage cans and metal food cans.
All recyclables should be rinsed out before being thrown away. Caps and labels can stay on containers.
Mixed fibers, including cardboard and paper, will still go to the landfill. Residents should not put them in the blue bag, but can leave the materials at the curb for collection, according to the release.
Certain plastics like yogurt cups, clamshell produce packages and dairy containers like for sour cream, butter and cream cheese are also not able to be processed.
This is mainly due to facility storage issues, processing limitations and material value.
“Paper recycling, that’s a more complex issue,” Columbia Volunteer Program Specialist Jodie Cook said. “It’s a lot of volume and it needs to be protected from the weather, so we have to have a bigger facility.”
Once collected from the curb, recyclables are seperated from the blue bags, compacted and hauled to Jefferson City three to four times a week.
Once the Federal Recycling & Waste Solutions facility becomes full, the recyclables are sent to Midwest Fiber Recycling in Normal, Illinois, where it is sorted for valuable materials and sold, the profits being split between Columbia and Federal Recycling & Waste Solutions.
Funding for the program is coming out of the City’s existing recycling budget.
“We had all the drop-off sites previously, so we had trucks constantly running those drop-off sites, we’re not doing that right now,” Columbia Utilities Director Erin Keys said. “It would be those same funds that we would use to run a truck down to Jeff City.”
Recycling was suspended in April after the recycling plant was damaged when a tornado hit the facilty. The city restarted recycling collections on April 28 but materials were taken to the landfill while the city evaluated its options.
Officials confirmed that the city’s Material Recovery Facility has been clear of debris, adding that lots of equipment is still functional.
“The next steps will be to make the equipment and the process operational, so this means replacing control panels, getting electricity to the facility and ensuring that all the proper safety repairs are completed,” Keys said.
Keys added that Columbia Utilies will have a report for the City Council in August covering long-term options.
The release states other materials, including glass, black plastic or takeout containers, styrofoam and plastic bags should not be placed in blue bags.
“Potential contamination from trash, glass and low-value plastics can damage processing equipment and reduce the overall value of recyclables, increasing the City’s recycling costs,” the release states.
“Solid waste utility will continue towards recycling more materials,” Keys said. “Future steps will include how do we handle fiber and glass and we appreciate everyone’s patience as we evaluate the best paths moving forward.”