A plan by the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority to build a recycling facility at the Escambia County-owned Perdido Landfill is being fast tracked after the recycling facility ECUA had been using abruptly closed at the start of the month.
ECUA serves about 75,000 customers in Escambia County and 18,000 in Santa Rosa County, all of which are offered recycling pickup along with regular waste services. ECUA had been taking that recycling to an Infinitus Energy facility in Montgomery, Ala., until Infinitus abruptly closed the facility earlier this month after a sharp drop in the market price of recycled materials.
Since then, ECUA has diverted 30 percent of recyclables to a small plant in Baldwin County and is working on finding processing facilities for the remaining 70 percent. Recycling pick up hasn’t been affected, and ECUA wants its customers to continue recycling, but until a permanent solution is found some recyclable material will put in the landfill along with regular garbage.