Columbia indefinitely suspends recycling after tornado destroys facility
COLUMBIA — It could take two to three years for the city of Columbia to build a new recycling facility after a tornado destroyed the Material Recovery Facility Sunday.
The city has indefinitely suspended all recycling operations, including its use of drop-off centers. City officials say they’re still evaluating solutions to resume recycling services.
The Columbia Material Recovery Facility is where all recycling comes in and is sorted.
The EF-1 tornado tore apart the facility, bringing down power lines, leveling the structure and scattering debris across the site.
“I got a call (at) about 6:15 last night that the alarms were going off and that the fire department and police were responding,” said Tom Ratermann, assistant director of solid waste for the Boone County Regional Sewer District.
The National Weather Service was in Columbia Monday surveying the damage.
In the aftermath, city crews began the process of recovery.Ratermann said they had to restore power, open the roads and prepare the trucks to collect garbage.
“We are trying to figure out what we are going to do about everything,” Ratermann said.
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In the meantime, the city has asked Columbia residents to either store recyclables at home or dispose of them with regular trash.
“Until we figure something out, we don’t want people dropping off at the drop-off centers because all that material needs to go to the landfill now,” Ratermann said.
West said the city is looking at several options for recycling services.
“We want to make sure that we are doing what’s best for everyone involved,” West said.
In the meantime, city employees affected by the shutdown will not be out of work.West said that they are still on the payroll and will find other spots to work.
“Getting a new facility back online is, obviously, a long undertaking,” West said. “So, we will look at other opportunities with them (employees) within the city.”
No employees were present at the facility at the time of the storm.
The Columbia city manager declared an emergency in the city on Monday in response to the damage.