FLORENCE-Mayor Steve Holt, City of Florence Council Members, and David Koonce, Manager of the Solid Waste, Street, & Recycle Department are excited to celebrate the advancement in the recycling center sorting system. We are proud to offer single-stream recycling which allows for easy participation in our program. When recyclables reach the facility, they are sorted, baled, and sold to manufacturers. Hand-sorting the materials is the labor-intensive part of the process. Florence’s new sorting system includes a fiber screen which will separate containers and fiber increasing our capacity and efficiency.
How does the new system work?
Materials are loaded on to the conveyor; workers pull cardboard, white paper, trash, and plastic bags. Materials continue to the polishing screen which allows the paper to climb onto an upper level conveyer belt. Containers fall down to a second conveyer-belt and small debris is discarded. This piece of equipment splits the materials into three streams including fiber, containers, and debris. The fiber continues inside the building allowing workers to remove any trash before the paper is baled. The containers continue on another line inside the building where workers separate natural #2 HDPE plastic jugs (milk jugs), mixed #2 HDPE plastic bottles (detergent jugs), #1 PET plastic bottles (water & soda bottles), aluminum cans, and steel cans. When enough of a commodity is collected, it is baled and is ready for market.
Recycling by the numbers?
Over the last ten years, you have recycled 31,767 tons (63,534,000 pounds) of materials. Since we pay to dispose of garbage, your recycling represents a $1,000,000 landfill saving.
We owe the growth and advancement of recycling in our area to The Alabama Department of Environmental Management. In 2008, the legislature passed the SWARMA act that included a $1 per ton fee for every ton of garbage disposed of in an Alabama Landfill. Twenty-five percent of that funding is used to clean up illegal dump sites, and another twenty-five percent goes to the Alabama Recycle Grant fund. This grant has allowed recycling to expand to the entire Shoals Area and across Alabama. Before the ADEM grant, we averaged 2,500 tons of materials, and today we average 3,200 tons annually or 6.4 million pounds of recyclables. These numbers show a 25% annual increase in recycling.
This new sorting line will allow us to increase our capacity while increasing efficiency. This project has been a result of three phases and grant cycles. First, we purchased the infeed conveyor, the next year we were able to add the fiber sort screen, and this year the entire system has been installed. Over the past ten years, we have received more than 2 million dollars of grant funding to expand recycling into Lauderdale County, the school systems, and the University of North Alabama, distribute 64-gallon carts to all residents, expand business recycling, and double the capacity of the Florence Recycle Center.
Recycle Center Timeline:
1988- Recycle Center was started by a non-profit
1992- The City of Florence took over the Recycling Center
2005- The City of Florence moved to same day collection for garbage & recycling
2006- The City of Florence offered 18-gallon bins for recycling
2009- Lauderdale County began recycling in all schools.
2011- Town of Rogersville & Town of Killen established community a drop off program
2013- Florence Recycle Center sort line was upgraded to increase capacity, and a magnet was installed to automate steel can collection
2015- The City of Florence residents received 64-gallon carts
2019- Made advancements in the sort line with fiber screen
Why do we recycle?
The Florence Recycling Center helps us to
- save space in the landfill
- supply materials to local industries
- promote economic development
- ensure continued high quality of life by being responsible with our environment
The Recycling Program Includes:
- Provides weekly single-stream curbside residential recycling service
- Provides 64-gallon blue carts to contain materials and make it easy to roll recyclables to the curb
- Provides cardboard dumpsters and single stream carts to businesses with a weekly service
- Provides the Florence Recycle Center Drop Off location that is open 24 hours/ 7 days
- Partners with surrounding communities, schools, organizations, and businesses
Our Partners: We are proud to say that North Alabama Recycles!
City of Florence Schools
The University of North Alabama
Lauderdale County
Lauderdale County Schools
Town of Rogersville
Town of Killen
Town of St. Florian
Town of Lexington
What can be recycled in the blue cart?
Cardboard
Paper
#1 Plastic Bottles
#2 Plastic Bottles
Aluminum Cans
Steel Cans
What can be dropped off at the recycle center? 
Scrap Metals
Electronics
Cooking & Motor Oil
Unique Recycling
Cigarette Butts- bins placed around city hall
Fishing Line – bins placed at the boat ramps
Where do these materials go?
Recycling works in Alabama and the Shoals! Most of these materials are recycled by local manufacturers including Consetellium, Essity, and Custom Polymers and to Southeast Companies. There are 42 manufactures in the state of Alabama that use recycled materials in their manufacturing process.
Recycling turns something old into something new!
Media Release/
