Kentucky city recycling center closes for improvements

Lexington, Kentucky, will ring in the new year with an investment in recycling designed to improve efficiency and reliability.

To upgrade equipment, the Lexington Recycle Center will shut down Jan. 6-19. Lexington’s Division of Waste Management will not collect material in residential recycling carts until operations resume at the Recycle Center the week of Jan. 20, according to a city news release.

“These changes are long overdue,” says Nancy Albright, commissioner of Environmental Quality & Public Works. “The new equipment will prevent breakdowns and make our service much more reliable.”

The closure is for the installation of a new conveyor belt and a fire protection system. The main conveyor belt that feeds material through the sorting process is overdue for replacement, the city reports. New heaters to improve the work environment will be installed at the same time. In addition, the closure will allow the city to perform preventive and routine maintenance on equipment that is not being replaced.

Other improvements anticipated in January include the installation of a new eddy current separator to more efficiently sort aluminum cans, new gas lines to supply fuel for the heaters and new water lines to supply water for a mister system that was installed over the summer.

The upgrades are part of a $2 million investment program in the Recycle Center that started earlier this year.

Lexington Recycle Center temporarily suspended paper recycling in May because of cost increases from changes in the recyclable commodities marketplace. The city issued a request for proposal (RFP) to businesses in September to reestablish its mixed residential recycling program. The city continues to ask residents to place paper in the waste bin. While Lexington continues to explore options for paper recycling, the city says it “expects to make an announcement soon.”

Recycling updates will be announced here.