FOLEY – Foley delivered the first truckload of residential recyclable materials to Baldwin County’s new Materials Recovery Facility on Wednesday.
The Foley Sanitation Department truck carried a load of paper, aluminum and plastic to the MRF in Magnolia Springs, Darrell Russell, Foley Public Works director, said.
“Today, we delivered our first load of recycling to the new MRF at the Magnolia landfill, what’s now Solid Waste,” Russell said. “Now, we’ll be able to take our recycling directly over there instead of out of state.”
The $25-million facility will provide a location where recyclable materials collected in Baldwin County can be sorted and sent to processing centers.
The county’s MRF will reduce costs for Foley and other municipalities by providing a closer location where recyclable materials can be transported, cutting fuel, vehicle and personnel costs. Foley had been taking materials to Escambia County, Florida.
The fees for each ton of material taken to the new MRF is also less than the charge that was being paid at facilities used in the past.
The Baldwin County MRF is next to the Baldwin County Solid Waste Authority site, which includes the Magnolia Landfill. In addition to the 60,000-square-foot collection and processing facility, the site also includes a 7,000-square-foot educational center where school children can watch the process and learn how recycling works.
The Baldwin County facility will process the same materials now collected in Foley. The city recycles cardboard, paper, plastic and aluminum cans.
The new recycling center will not take glass. Foley also does not collect glass for recycling. The local recycling centers send materials to processing facilities. No processing facilities in the region take glass for recycling.
More information about Foley recycling services is available at https://cityoffoley.org/sanitation/.