Reviewed by: Caleb Turrentine
How the Florence recycling center became one of the most successful programs in the state
One city in North Alabama has made it their mission to cut back waste and recycle as many items as they can. Florence holds the title of one of the oldest and successful recycling programs in the state. What makes their program excel ahead of others?
Keep reading to find out why this program has so much success.
The recycling plant
Florence began their curbside recycling program in 1988, making it one of the oldest in the state of Alabama. The city offers residential recycling carts along with free recycling for businesses.
For those not located in the city limits, there are a number of drop-off locations, including the Florence Recycling Center. Some other drop off sites are included on the Florence website.
Individual recyclers
For an individual recycler, the process is simple. First, you must decide if an item is recyclable. Some of the acceptable items include:
- Paper mail
- Notebook paper
- Newspaper
- Cardboard boxes
- Cereal and food boxes
- Water bottles
- Soda bottles
- Detergent bottles
- Plastic juice and milk jugs
- Motor oil jugs
- Aluminum beverage cans
- Steel food cans
Once you have determined if your item is recyclable you can either place them in you blue recycling cart or drop-off at one of the acceptable locations.
Florence recycling plant
When the items finally arrive at the Florence recycling plant, they are then processed. They begin by sorting the items into categories, cardboard, paper, plastics, and metals. This process is done by both people and machines.
After the items are sorted into categories, the items are compacted into bales. Once enough bales have been made, they will be loaded up onto a trailer and sold to be made into different products.
The bales will either be sold to vendors or local manufactures. They can take the recycled material and turn them into anything from toilet paper to new plastic bottles, depending on the material.
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