Company Offers Free Recycling in Alabama City

About 2,500 households in Mobile, Ala., will get curbside paper recycling starting next month in a pilot program that could expand citywide.

The free weekly service will be offered by Recycled Fibers and is not directly funded by the city, said Gina Gregory, a city spokeswoman. There will be two informational meetings, one scheduled for tonight, to discuss details.

Recycled Fibers will collect paper products from homes in the Spring Hill area and in neighborhoods along a stretch of Government Boulevard west of Azalea Road, according to the city, according to the Mobile Register.

The pilot program will last six months, said Scott Seale, vice president and general manager for Recycled Fibers' southeast region.

The company will use the material to help feed Mobile Paperboard, a sister company that produces what is called chip board -- paper for goods such as cereal boxes, game boards and the backs of notebooks, Seale said.

The mill is capable of taking in 12,000 tons of recovered fiber a month. Seale estimates that the curbside program will net around 50 pounds per person per month. 

The company has been promoting the program through a number of channels, including advertising in local newspapers. The company will be holding a town hall meeting on April 19th to answer questions from residents.

Collection should start early next month, although there hasn’t been an exact launch date announced, Seale said.

Recycling bins will be delivered to homes in the targeted areas on April 30. The initial program will not include apartment complexes or businesses, though the service could be expanded there in the future, Seale said.

The company should be able to determine the program's success about three months into the operation, Seale said. He said at least 50 percent of households participating would be a good number.

"We're hoping, naturally, at worst case to break even," Seale said.

At least initially, Seale said, the company will lease trucks from the city. The company will use garbage trucks phased out of operation by newer ones, according to the city.

Gregory said she did not have details of any lease agreement.

Recycled Fibers purchases raw paper for the Mobile Paperboard mill, located in Crichton. If the program were to expand citywide, the best the company could expect to bring in would be about one-twelfth of what it needs to operate the mill.

The material will be collected and delivered directly to the paperboard mill, where it will be sorted and cleaned. While the company had a buyback program years ago, it had abandoned the approach for the past several years.

Any expansion of curbside service would be done in stages, Seale said.

Currently, Recycled Fibers purchases raw paper from as far away as Miami. It also purchases paper collected at the city's Government Street recycling center, Seale said.

Collection day for both areas is scheduled for every Wednesday, according to a letter mailed by the city to residents in the targeted areas. It states paper makes up about 25 to 30 percent of household garbage.

Seale said paper for recycling includes newspaper, envelopes, magazines and cereal and soda boxes. Wax paper, diapers and used napkins and paper towels cannot be recycled.

Both areas were chosen because they are in the western part of the city -- away from the city's recycling center -- and made up predominately of single-family homes, said Bob Haskins, director of Keep Mobile Beautiful.

The city, through Haskins' department, is helping to organize the effort along with members of Leadership Mobile.

The city currently collects newspapers for recycling from some curbsides on garbage collection day, though the program is not well publicized and participation is low, Haskins said. Haskins said he did not know if that program overlaps into the areas included in the Recycled Fibers pilot program.