3 top recycling programs in Alabama reveal the secret to their success

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In 1987, the cities of Auburn and Florence launched the first curbside programs in Alabama. 

36 years later, they operate two of the most successful recycling programs in the state. 

In this, our second installment about recycling in Alabama, we take a close look at these two established programs plus an emerging one in Baldwin County that’s expected to become the largest in the state.

1. War Eagle and Recycle

Catrina Cook, the city of Auburn’s Director of Environmental Services, chuckles when she talks about who established the first comprehensive recycling program in the state—Auburn or Florence.

“I often argue with David Koonce, Florence’s Manager of Solid Waste and Recycling, about who has the oldest recycling program. We finally did some research and compared notes and it was us. He might not be happy with me bringing it up! But we’ve been neck and neck with Florence for years. It is a wonderful city.”

According to Cook, 85% of the approximately 19,000 households in the city of Auburn recycle. That kind of participation rate is unheard of in Alabama.

To the best of Cook’s knowledge, Auburn is also home to the only 24/7 recycling convenience center of its kind in the state—a place where you can drop-off almost every item imaginable, including glass.

Secret to Auburn’s success—the kids!

Cook credits students for making recycling popular in Auburn. 

“We try to make the kids champions of recycling in their home. We found that if you educate the kids first, they will push the parents to stay on point and encourage them to do what is right.”

In the long run, Cook wants to see the day when Auburn residents need bigger recycling carts than garbage carts.

“Ultimately, my goal is to make sure that our garbage cart is smaller than our recycling cart— that our recycling cart gets bigger. So that we are not putting as much in the landfill and that we’re recycling more items and creating more opportunities in our community.”

2. People in Florence expect to recycle

In our first installment in this series on the state of recycling in Alabama, we learned that the city of Florence recycles about 12-14% of their household waste which equals about 3,500 tons annually.

“People in Florence expect to recycle. They’ve been doing it a long time, and a lot of residents are really passionate about it. They love to do their part.”

David Koonce, Florence’s Manager of Solid Waste and Recycling

And it’s not just the residents. Florence is known for offering recycling to local businesses for free. This service lowers dumpster costs and makes doing business in the town more attractive.

“We have a lot of businesses coming to Florence that ask about recycling and what we offer. Everybody in this day and age wants to be waste free or minimize the waste they generate. It’s a selling point that we have as a community—we offer up both a commercial and residential recycling program.”

Processing recyclables: A Florence advantage

Florence has recycling industries nearby that turn your household waste into other products.

Here are a few, literally in Florence’s backyard:

In Cherokee, Alabama,  RMR Barton paper plant, recycles cardboard and paper. In addition, Cherokee is home to Constellium, an aluminum recycler that’s one of the largest in the nation. According to their website, the Muscle Shoals plant recycles the equivalent of 20 billion aluminum cans a year.

Then there is Indorama Ventures located in Athens, Alabama. They turn plastic beverage bottles back into various products. Check out this neat graphic on the total number of bottles Indorama has recycled since 2011. They are nearing 100 billion!

“The elected officials have always been supportive of our recycling program. They support our community outreach, which includes contests, creative messaging with advertising, and billboards. Getting our message across can be a challenge. We have found entertaining, positive, and fun campaigns get more attention than standard messaging. Our newly launched campaign focuses on the tonnage residents recycle and what it turns into. For example, junk mail can be turned into toilet paper if recycled!”

David Koonce, Florence’s Manager of Solid Waste and Recycling

3. Baldwin County goes “ALL IN” with recycling

Terri Graham, the Director of Solid Waste for Baldwin County doesn’t sugarcoat it. Most of her county’s 250,000+ residents and 7 million annual visitors do little or no recycling.

That is going to change…big time.

Beginning this month, with the support of all 14 municipalities and the county, the community is building the state’s largest recycling processing facility. 

“Right now, all the recycled materials (from Baldwin County) are going out of state. We don’t really have the means to process recyclables in the county. By building this facility, the residents of Baldwin County will be able to have access to recycling and hopefully neighboring communities as well.”

Terri Graham, Director of Solid Waste for Baldwin County

Once it is completed in the summer of 2024, the 60,000 square foot facility will have capacity to process 40,000 tons of recyclables a year.

In addition to the state-of-the-art recycling plant, the County is opening a 7,000 square foot education center. 

Education is the key to Baldwin County’s future recycling program

“It’s (new recycling facility) going to be a waste adventure center. It will be a very interactive place for children and adults of all age groups to learn why recycling is important. How it impacts us locally. And how it impacts us globally.”

Terri Graham, Director of Solid Waste for Baldwin County

If Alabamians want a glimpse into the future of recycling, Baldwin County is the example.

Up next—how you can make recycling happen in your community

In our upcoming third story about recycling in Alabama, we will look at ways people can get involved with recycling in their community. We will feature a group trying to recycle glass in Birmingham and look at ways you can get involved locally by joining nonprofit groups and local waste authority boards.

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