I have recently been reflecting back over the last year at Athens-Limestone Recycling Center (ALRC) and I am so excited about where we are today.
Did you know that one year ago the future of Athens-Limestone Recycling Center did not look so promising? Cuts had been made to the point that there was nowhere else to cut. Commodity prices had fallen; not for just one or two commodities (as is common) but ALL commodities prices had fallen as the experts had predicted. (Eighteen months before, experts warned to buckle your seatbelts and hold on, it is going to be a bumpy ride.)
I am so grateful to our residents that utilize our many drop-off services – whether it is our drop-off bins at Lucas Ferry or one of our 14 community collection centers throughout the county. I THANK YOU!!
To Mark Yarbrough and the County Commissioners that are always there to offer support, I THANK YOU!
To Mayor Marks, the Athens City Council, the staff of the Streets and Sanitation Department who are also always there to support us, I THANK YOU ALL!
To our more than 300 businesses that utilize our services, I THANK YOU!
I would also like to thank the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM). If not for them and their financial support in the form of a Recycling Grant, we would not have been able to purchase a much needed forklift. Our old ones had outlived their useful life. A fully functioning forklift is vital to our operation.
ALRC was also able to purchase a much needed box truck and lift gate from the generous grant funding of ADEM. We had one of our trucks that had over 300,000 miles on it go down, and it was not worth fixing. Without this new addition, servicing our schools and businesses would have been a real challenge.
Another purchase that we were able to make only through the generosity of this grant from ADEM was a new canopy at our Lucas Ferry Road location. This will allow us to keep our baled material under cover while it awaits shipment. It will also offer shelter from the sun and rain to our employees while they are sorting recyclable material.
This ADEM Grant was for just over $70,000.00. To ADEM I THANK YOU!
THANK YOU ALL for realizing what a vital role Athens-Limestone Recycling Center plays in this community – a community I am glad to call home and to serve.
By: Ruby McCartney, Plant Manager Athens-Limestone Recycling Center
