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ECUA: Our Recycling Program Is Still Alive And Well
April 29, 2014
ECUA reiterated Monday that the temporary closure of a local recycling processor does not impact their program at the consumer level.
The ECUA recycling program is ongoing and all recycling collections continue as scheduled, the utility said in a statement Monday. Despite the closure on April 18 of West Florida Recycling, ECUA’s processor of recyclables, the program has not been interrupted. ECUA said they prepared for this possibility, and they are transporting its collected recyclables to an alternate processing facility in Georgia.
“ECUA is committed to the viability of our recycling program– we know it’s as important to our customers as it is to us. We thank all those who have chosen to participate in our program for their dedication to recycling, and their deep concern for the environmental health of our community,” an ECUA statement said.
West Florida Recycling, which is in bankruptcy, notified clients last week that they were temporarily closed due to standing water. Santa Rosa County reacted by removing recycling bins from locations across the county, and the City of Pensacola was forced to haul recyclables to the landfill.
Pictured: Standing water at West Florida Recycling on April 16 in a photo provided by the company.
Comments
4 Responses to “ECUA: Our Recycling Program Is Still Alive And Well”
For Bob Jones:
The contract with West Florida was initiated in 2010, about 15 months into our program. Switching to them as a processor of our recyclables is what allowed for the expansion in our program to allow glass, pizza boxes, and several other materials. At the time, we were their sole customer.
In time, the City of Pensacola, the Escambia County Solid Waste Department, EC School District (for a time), commercial haulers and Santa Rosa County became customers. WFR outgrew their facility and the issue was compounded last summer with the heavy rains we experienced in July, which damaged much of the materials awaiting transfer to the end buyer.
One has to wonder why West Florida Recycling was given the contract to begin with. Given all the issues that have come out, it’s apparent that they were never able to handle the volume of materials being received.
One of the area county’s should start back up a county run recycling site since there is no commercial one available.
What is the cost to the environment to ship the stuff all the way to Georgia? Is the company producing pollution in the process of recycling? What’s the point of recycling to protect the environment if worse pollutants are pumped in the air in the process? Many of the Recycling centers are more for show than real protection of the environment.
I wish those who put on a big show of being protectors of the environment would take ALL the costs TO the environment in mind before they start demanding, regulating, and requiring changes. Much of what we try to recycle is not processed in a clean way so it produces pollution. It they buy an electric car they think they are saving the world. WRONG! It requires digging up the raw materials to make the batteries. All done with big polluting trucks and cranes. Huge ships moving it to processing plants that produce tons of pollution per finished batteries with much more destructive chemicals released than what a modern car releases. But what about the charge? Where does that electricity come from? Not a solar panel that’s for sure. I have yet to meet an electric car owner that uses their own solar panels to charge the car of course then again the panels are made in a hugely polluting way too.
I WANT recycling and to save the environment just for it to be done in a way that does NOT PRODUCE EVEN MORE POLUTION than it saves from release. If that is even possible.
Glad they are committed to recycle, even if they have to send it out of state. Too bad the jobs can’t be here!