First, AEC hopes that no one was hurt in this terrible incident, and we deeply appreciate our fire fighter’s efforts to extinguish the fire. Needless to say this is a huge loss to the Birmingham community, as well as Homewood, Leeds, Pelham, Irondale, and a multitude of other municipalities that utilized this facility to process their recycling. Birmingham Recycling and Recovery has been essential for curbside recycling in our communities. We are hopeful that the city of Birmingham, and municipalities that were utilizing this facility, will work together to support the return of our Birmingham Recycling and Recovery center, and seriously consider the future of recycling throughout this region. Our citizens and businesses deserve an accessible, efficient means to reduce their waste footprint, and avoid contributing to landfills. AEC has received pleas from countless residents and businesses that want recycling to be more accessible, and want to recycle materials that could not be recycled at the current facilities (e.g. glass).

AEC’s mission is to “preserve, protect, and promote a healthy Alabama through community education, engagement, and partnerships”, and providing education, guidance, and resources to our citizens that want to recycle their waste falls under that mission. As Alabamians, we need ALL hands on deck when it comes to waste reduction. Recycling is a pivotal piece in the waste reduction puzzle. For example, Alabama alone generated over 5 MILLION TONS of municipal solid waste in 2020, not counting over 1 MILLION tons of waste taken in from other states.

Although we were all blindsided by this terrible incident, this is also a formative opportunity to move forward, together, with our municipalities, businesses, and state organizations to create the best next steps for our communities. How do we prioritize waste reduction in communities? What do we want our recycling programs to look like moving forward? How do we utilize recycled materials efficiently and economically? Can we make recycling economically viable in Alabama?

So, what can you do to help as an individual or business?

We need passionate individuals like you to keep pushing forward with sustainable practices, and try to reduce how much waste you generate.

• REUSE, REUSE, REUSE (reusable grocery bags/drinking bottles/food containers)
• Avoid SINGLE-USE plastic materials when you shop (cutlery, cups, bags, packaging, straws)
• Compost your food waste, or donate salvageable foods if possible before throwing them away.
• Buy secondhand clothing, furniture, household items, and donate your used items.
• Go digital (paper-free) with mail, receipts, magazines

Here are a couple of online resource for waste reduction.

https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/united-states/delaware/stories-in-delaware/delaware-eight-ways-to-reduce-waste/

Rest assured, AEC hears you, and we are here for you. We will continue to work with our municipalities, businesses, and citizens to come up with sustainable solutions to solid waste issues in our communities, and look forward to making Alabama a “waste-not, want-not” state. Stay hopeful, stay informed, and stay strong folks – recycling in Bham isn’t over, it’s just evolving.