Saturday, December 28, 2013
Grant Funds Awarded To Create Four-County Recycling Hub In Lawrence County
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation officials have announced that grant funds have been allocated to create a four-county recycling hub at the Lawrence County Solid Waste Station on Baler Drive.
Local officials have been working for several months in an effort to be selected for the allocation of grant funds to create Lawrence County Hub and Spoke. County Executive J. Mack Chandler said, “This is a big plus for Lawrence County. This is something we’ve worked on for months to help our citizens.”
A total of $2.3 million in Recycling Equipment and Hub/Spoke Grant funds were awarded across the state for fiscal year 2014 projects designed to reduce landfill waste.
The grants are for the development and expansion of regional facilities to collect, transport and process recyclable material for multiple counties and municipalities.
The project purpose is to increase recycling between counties and municipalities by promoting greater regional cooperation. The grant requires no matching funds on the local level.
A total of $300,000 was allocated to Lawrence County Hub and Spoke, which is a partnership between Lawrence, Lewis, Hickman, and Perry counties.
Of that amount, Lawrence County will receive $69,200 for the purchase of recycling bins, dumpsters, a wire tie system, glass crusher, and software needed to conduct day to day operations of the hub.
Hickman County will receive $142,000 in order to purchase recycling bins and a recycling roll off truck. Lewis County will receive $55,800 with which to purchase recycling bins and a fork lift. And Perry County is to receive $33,000 for the purchase of recycling bins and a conveyor system.
Recyclables from the other three counties will be transported to the Lawrence County Transfer Station for processing.
Solid Waste Department Manager Gary Wayne Hyde explained, “We felt that we were a good candidate to receive the grant because we already have all of the various types of recycling in place except for glass.
We can become a hub overnight. The way the funds were distributed helped us a lot. We set our sights on helping the weaker counties build a stronger recycle program.”
Hyde said that Hickman County already has a good recycling program in place that includes the recycling of glass. Locally glass will be crushed and stored in a recycle bin, then transported to Hickman County for recycling.
Assistance provided through the four-county cooperative will likely have the greatest impact on Lewis and Perry counties.
Hyde said that these counties first plan to implement recycling of cardboard, newspaper and magazines, then build from there.
Costs associated with recycling had resulted in little to no profit in these areas however assistance provided through the cooperative should allow them to begin to turn a profit.
Chandler commended those who worked on the project saying, “It was a team effort with Director Gary Wayne Hyde, Beverly Philpot, Phil Hood and other members of the Regional Solid Waste Planning Board who worked endless hours to make this happen. I want to thank them very much.”
