Gadsden Recycling has diverted one million pounds of cardboard out of Noble Hill Land Fill resulting in an estimated saving of $48,000 annually, according to its economic report presented to the city council on Tuesday, Aug. 8.
The recycling center, located at 306 Henry St. in Gadsden, began operations in 2014, three months ago Marc Golden stepped in as recycling supervisor.
“Marc took over and he has done some great things over there,” Mayor Craig Ford said. “We are hoping to invest in a conveyor belt that would help him go through the recycling faster for them.”
Since Golden has assumed the leadership role, the center has added an equipment operator 1, has increased its cardboard processing and has increased safety measures including clearing the floor every day before closing.
The conveyor belt would speed up the process by about 40 percent, according to Golden, who said the bottleneck of the entire operation is unloading and throwing the cardboard into the baler by hand. Due to the narrow space in front of the baler, increasing output safely has been challenging until the conveyor can be installed.
The center has also received grants totaling $47,200 for a new truck and tarps for several of the trailers. Currently there are 78 trailers, 63 of which are on location at all times. 57 are in Gadsden, three are in Attalla, one is in Reece City and two are in Hokes Bluff. The additional trailers are used to replace the current ones so the locations are never without a spot to put the boxes.
On average, 11 trailers are replaced daily, according to Golden. Three drivers are responsible for traveling to the sites to bring the trailers back where they are then sorted by hand to remove any trash, plastic and styrofoam and then loaded into the baler.
The processed cardboard is then sold to WestRock Huntsville averaging around $75 per ton, bringing in about $36,000 per year, according to Golden’s report. Overall, the center’s gross revenue from sales is estimated to be around $84,000 per year.
Short term goals highlighted in the report are to fill the vacant equipment operator II position, find a viable way to recycle glass and plastic, construct a new break room, remodel the one bathroom and add a shower stall, install security camera system to improve safety and employee accountability and add the conveyor belt and 10 additional trailers.
Long term goals would be to expand the center and the recycling program to curbside pickup in select areas, employ 10 to 12 full time employees and 4 to 6 part time employees and introduce new methods and equipment to expand and improve processes.
The center is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., and currently accepts cardboard, aluminum cans, metal, paper/books/magazines and electronics. Ford said their hope is to include glass and plastic eventually, but they are going through the economic side of it. He mentioned possibly teaming up with another city to make it happen.
