RePower South reopens Montgomery, Alabama, MRF

South Carolina-based RePower South (RPS) and the city of Montgomery, Alabama, gathered today for a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Montgomery Recycling and Recovery Facility, which will resume residential recycling operations this week.

“This ribbon cutting speaks to our commitment to do what’s right by becoming a green city and a destination known nationally as a leader in recycling, innovation and technology,” Mayor Todd Strange said. “Thanks to our partnership with RePower South, we are bringing a cost effective, environmentally-friendly and seamless sanitation solution to our residents.”

Sanitation crews will collect garbage from residents’ green carts and deliver to the Montgomery Recycling and Recovery Facility, where high-tech machinery will sort, recycle and turn waste, such as non-recyclable paper and plastic, into low-carbon, clean fuel. The city claims a 100 percent participation rate in the recycling program.

“Our platform enables greater recycling recovery and does so across the entire Montgomery waste stream,” RPS President Scott Montgomery said in a press release. “RePower South creates a low-carbon, clean fuel to help reduce the consumption of coal. Greater recycling, less landfilling and cleaner air at lower cost is a true win-win for the City of Montgomery.”

RPS reached an agreement with the city in June 2018 to operate the city-owned facility. In the months since, RPS invested more than $10 million in capital and new additions to the facility, spending more than $12 million total on the project.

RPS says among the new additions is the latest in advanced recycling machinery, which turns traditionally landfilled waste into fuel. The alternative to coal consumption will be sold to industrial customers and utilities, RPS says, which will eliminate its dependence on a commodities market, “a weakness in the facility’s previous operator’s strategy"

“We know there’s a better way for our nation to manage garbage, and we are excited that the city of Montgomery agrees,” Montgomery said. “We look forward to this facility serving as a model for the world to move toward a more sustainable waste and energy future.”

The private-public partnership includes a revenue sharing provision, which means the city could receive up to $200,000 annually from RPS, if sales of recovered materials increase. The partnership also saves the city on maintenance and capital costs for sanitation equipment and extends the live of the landfill. 

RPS Montgomery will create more than 65 new green jobs in the region.

RPS development partners include Barnhill Contracting Company as general contractor; Bulk Handling Systems to refurbish and upgrade the waste processing system; and Loesche Energy Systems to provide the fuel manufacturing system. RPS licenses the fuel technology (ReEngineered FeedstockTM) from Accordant Energy.