Municipal

Montgomery, Alabama, acquires idled MRF from IREP

The city of Montgomery, Alabama, and its Solid Waste Disposal Authority have signed an agreement to acquire a material recovery facility (MRF) and an adjacent lot from current owner and former operator Infinitus Renewable Energy Park (IREP) for $625,000 and other considerations. The MRF, which recovered recyclables from municipal solid waste (MSW), was built for $35 million and claimed to recover for recycling nearly 60 percent of the material delivered to its door. By adding waste to energy and composting, the MRF’s landfill diversion rate would top 90 percent, IREP said at its opening in April 2014.

IREP closed the MRF in October 2015, with Infinitus CEO Kyle Mowitz saying, “While our customers have been satisfied with the material we have reclaimed, unfortunately the market price for these materials have dropped dramatically.”

Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange says, “Although it’s been a long road, today marks a significant step toward bringing one of the most technologically advanced recycling facilities in the nation back online.” He adds, “Our vision is to find a partner who can not only take over operations at the facility and succeed, but we want to find someone who will lead us into the future and set an example other cities can follow.”

Under the agreement, IREP will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The purchase of the MRF will close within five business days after the court’s approval of the agreement. The approved purchaser will become the owner of the facility and all related machinery and equipment.

City officials say they plan to find an operator for the MRF that will agree to process recyclables without any additional financial commitments from the city and Solid Waste Disposal Authority.

ReCommunity files federal lawsuit against Ann Arbor, Michigan

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Resource Recovery Systems LLC and FCR LLC (collectively known as ReCommunity, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina) have filed a complaint in federal court against the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan, for damages caused by what they claim is the city’s wrongful termination of its recycling contract with ReCommunity. The filing includes claims that the city breached its contract, broke promises ReCommunity relied upon and unjustly enriched itself at ReCommunity’s expense through wrongful actions to escape a contract it believed was no longer financially advantageous. Also, the city’s actions put dozens of employees out of work, created additional burdens for city taxpayers and ended a vital, popular service for its residents, the company claims.

In a statement, ReCommunity says that since 1993 it has had a contract with Ann Arbor to manage its recycling facility and transfer station. The services included the sale of recyclables, sharing profits when revenue exceeded operating costs.

In 2014, when the price of oil began to decline, revenue from recyclables also dropped, ultimately reaching all-time sustained lows in 2015. Meanwhile, the city’s recycling contract included a requirement that the city pay ReCommunity when revenue fell short of the company’s operating costs. It also included a requirement for the city to reimburse ReCommunity for the repair and replacement of recycling equipment from a fund the city knew was insufficient to cover costs, ReCommunity says.

However, ReCommunity alleges that instead of paying the shortfall in revenue and working with the MRF operator to find a solution to equitably fund equipment repairs, Ann Arbor maximized its profits when market prices were up, receiving nearly $3 million since 2011, and refused to pay the required shortfall payments and to invest in critical equipment when markets dropped.

The city’s termination was wrongful and its conduct constitutes a breach of the contract, the company claims, and ReCommunity seeks to recover all damages associated with the city’s actions.

The full ReCommunity complaint can be accessed at www.recommunity.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/2016-07-27-Complaint22223215_1.pdf.

The Recycling Partnership aids Athens, Ohio

The Recycling Partnership, Falls Church, Virginia, has given a grant for residential recycling carts to Athens, Ohio.

Athens will use The Recycling Partnership’s grant and technical assistance to buy 5,000 new recycling carts and for an education campaign. Local nonprofit Rural Action also will provide staff support to move the project forward.

“We are excited to partner with such a dedicated community,” says The Recycling Partnership’s Technical Assistance Director Cody Marshall. “This also provides a great opportunity to grow recycling and show successful recovery in a very rural region of the country.”

According to The Recycling Partnership, the grant will allow the city to capitalize on recent improvements to the Athens-Hocking Recycling Center’s material recovery facility (MRF) by improving curbside access to recycling.

Athens’ Deputy Service-Safety Director Ron Lucas says, “Our community prides itself on its environmental ethic, and access to increase recycling through the new carts is an easy way for residents to participate in building a stronger Athens.”