Alabama City Seeks Bids as It Takes Over Recycling

Citing a way to save the landfill as much as $164,000 per year and create more than $100,000 in annual revenue, city and county officials informally agreed that Decatur should handle its recycling collection rather than pay a contractor.

The city will begin seeking bids for equipment and a building in hopes of starting the program in 18 months.

"It's a no-lose situation for the community," said Rickey Terry, director of Decatur-Morgan County Landfill.

It not only saves money, it gives the city complete control over the curbside program, creates six jobs and brings revenue for local vendors who sell the equipment, he said.

Another key benefit, Terry and Decatur Recycling Coordinator Emily Johnson said, is that the landfill gets to keep the revenue from selling the recyclables. That money can offset the landfill's operating costs and ensure more competitive tipping fees.

Mayor Lynn Fowler and Morgan County Commission Chairman Larry Bennich initiated the idea earlier this summer, and asked Terry and Johnson to prepare budgets for making the transition.

Morgan County also quit contracting its recycling service for rural areas to save money.

Decatur has used Browning-Ferris Industries of Huntsville to retrieve recyclables left in blue bins. Earlier this month the council extended that contract through February 2006 at a rate of $431,000 annually.

The Recycling Department's overall budget is $547,000, which the landfill subsidizes.

The proposed budget calls for $768,000 in upfront capital purchases. This includes $501,000 for four trucks, $98,000 for separating equipment and $168,000 for a building to house the separating operation. The city would put the separating operation at the Public Works Complex at Central Parkway Southwest.

With the capital purchases, the overall recycling budget for the first year would be $1.15 million.

The budget the second year would drop to $383,000. Compared to the existing budget of $547,000, which includes the BFI contract, the landfill can save $164,000 annually. Add in the revenue of selling the recyclables, which was $179,000 in 2003, and the landfill comes ahead by $343,000.

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Terry said the savings and revenue could pay off the capital expenses in three years. The annual operating budget includes money to replace the trucks every seven years, he said.

None of the council members and commissioners objected to moving forward on transferring the program

If the transfer occurs, instead of one pickup for all city residents Wednesdays, the city-run program would have pick up four days a week, probably following the same day garbage trucks make pickups. Decatur (Alabama) Daily