County Commission | The Magazine June 2017 | Page 32

NEWS YOU CAN USE
Recycling is just the beginning
M
obile County took home the 2017 Excellence in County
Administration Award presented by the Association of
County Administrators of Alabama at its annual conference.
The winning program was dubbed “Three-in-
One: Recycling, Job Training, Education,” with all goals
accomplished through the development of the Mobile County
Recycling Center.
For starters, the center’s first objective is to provide
voluntary recycling services to all 412,992 residents of Mobile
County to reduce the flow of recyclable materials that are
dumped illegally or sent
to a landfill.
From the beginning,
the community
response has exceeded
expectations. Seven
days a week, an
average of 300 cars
a day move through
the dropoff line as
residents deposit
recyclables. Since
its opening in late
2014, the center
has received more
than five million
pounds of material.
Any recycling
program would be
proud of those numbers, but the Mobile
County program goes substantially
further. The second objective – to
provide job training and retraining for adults, especially those
with disabilities – would likely not be possible without the
county’s close partnership with Goodwill Easterseals of the
Gulf Coast Inc., a nonprofit with expertise in recycling, job
training and education.
The center accepts paper, cardboard, glass, plastics,
aluminum, steel and computers. These incoming materials
pass through a sorting line that accommodates workers using
wheelchairs. In fact, the entire facility, located near the county
fairgrounds, was designed to meet or exceed Americans with
Disabilities Act requirements.
Altogether, students and adults with special needs have
received more than 1,450 hours of training.
While K-12 schools are part of job training efforts, they are
the heart of the third objective, education.
Mobile
County
32 | COUNTY COMMISSION
More than 900
students from Mobile
County public
schools have
visited the center
for educational field
trips, and the facility
also offers
opportunities
for students
to complete
community
service hours.
Mobile’s multi-
faceted recycling
program was initiated
and implemented by
county staff under
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the leadership of John
Pafenbach, county administrator. Essential support and
commitment have come from the commission, which
dedicated $2.5 million of its Coastal Impact Assistance Project