The City of Troy is coming together with ADEM to launch the Alabama Recycling Program.

The program, which will include local governments from across the state as well as companies interested in advancing recycling in Alabama, will be used to study recycling habits and help develop recommendations for improving collection and processing efficiency in years to come.

Troy Mayor Jason Reeves said it was an honor for the city to be included in this project.

“Troy is both honored and excited to be the lead agency in the Alabama Recycling Partnership,” Reeves said. “This will be a public-private partnership consisting of Alabama municipalities, non-profit organizations and private industries to find ways to plan and expand recycling’s reach in Alabama.”

The program will focus on creating a comprehensive look at the impact recycling has on Alabama’s economy, and an inventory of businesses focused on or involved in recycling will be conducted to establish a baseline in the study. The baseline will include the number of jobs created, the added value to the economy, as measured by sales, determined for each company.

The ARP will be managed by the City of Troy and will inventory recycling activity across the entire state of Alabama. Other cities, such as Daphne, Guntersville and Florence, have joined with Troy in support of the ARP.

Negotiations are currently underway with four industry partners, and private funding is expected to be raised.

Recent studies by Auburn University indicate that Alabama’s current reported recycling rate is approximately one half the national average, and to help improve the capture of the lost recyclable material the ARP will develop tools for local governments to deploy.

The program will design a plan for developing a stronger recycling infrastructure in Alabama. ADEM will compare individual grant programs and create a plan for the development of recycling infrastructure for Alabama. After creating a master plan, ADEM can then compare individual grant proposals and be in a position to fund programs that support the plan.