City of Columbia is evaluating options for recycling facility improvement
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Columbia city leaders are considering solutions for its outdated Material Recovery Facility.
This week, the City Council authorized an agreement with a consultant group to help evaluate the future of recycling in Columbia.
On Oct. 3, 2022, the City Council approved an agreement with RRT Engineering to conduct an extensive evaluation of the Solid Waste Utility’s recycling and waste diversion programs. Columbia’s Material Recovery Facility was built in 2002 which is one of the things that prompted the city to launch the study.
“It’s nearing the end of its useful life, a lot of the machinery is aging rapidly,” Columbia Utilities spokesman Matt Nestor said.
An employee at the facility told ABC 17 News that it costs roughly $10,000 to repair a broken machine. While the machine is broken, the city is unable to generate any revenue from recyclable material. The employee said that they have had breakdowns that have lasted up to two weeks before.
RRT’s evaluation found that the equipment is not performing as designed, high levels of contamination originating at drop-off centers, and safety concerns due to the deterioration of the system, according to data from a report. Most of the material dropped off at the facility is sorted by hand.
According to the Finance Office, revenue from the sales of recyclable material during the past five years were:
- 2019: $825,875.52
- 2020: $716,912.37
- 2021: $1,231,942.49
- 2022: $1,664,252.86
- 2023: $782,292.25
However, the recent lack of efficiency is preventing the city from making more money off of recycled materials.
“It was kind of built that way when we first started because hand-sorting you can guarantee the cleanliness of the different materials,” Nestor said. “We took a lot of pride in having uncontaminated materials that we were able to sell, but with the growth that we’ve seen and now handling as much as we do, it’s a lot harder to be able to guarantee that. So being able to take advantage of some of that technology I think would be a good thing.”
Nestor said another reason for the study was because of how much recycling has grown in Columbia in the past 20 years.
When curbside recycling was suspended last May, drop-off centers in Columbia saw 3,322.69 tons worth of recycling between May 17-March 13, according to city documents. The lack of curbside pickup is one of the things that contributed to high contamination number, documents say.
Before curbside collection was suspended, RRT found that 38% of materials collected at recycling drop-off centers were contaminated, according to a report. Most of that contamination stems from people not placing their items in the correct bin or putting in nonrecyclable items.
According to a council memo, the city gave RRT a budget of $341,044 to complete the study. When the firm completed its evaluation it only cost the city $276,129.90. RRT gave Columbia a list of options to help remedy the problem. The city narrowed it down to two options, but decided to use the remaining balance of $64,944.10 to let RRT further evaluate them, according to the memo.
According to Nestor, one of the two options includes upgrading the recycling facility in its current location, which would cost around $ 17 million. The other option was to build a new building on a different site on the landfill and repurpose the old building. That option would cost about $28 million.
RRT will evaluate the two options and provide a summary report, including conceptual schematics, budgetary costs, preliminary schedules, a review of permit requirements and outline the risks, limitations and benefits of each option. Once the city picks an option, it will issue a request for a proposal to another consultant to design the facility.
