Joey Amberson

November 5, 2019

Recycling in Birmingham

The City of Birmingham spends $7 million every 7-10 years expanding the landfill to

accommodate more garbage. Money that could be used to improve the city through various,

other services, but it’s literally being thrown in the trash. There is a definite interest among

citizens of Birmingham on the issue of recycling, but many say the problem is other citizens not

knowing what to recycle or even that the city has a recycling program already in place. Only

about 1% of Birmingham residents actively recycle. This is an issue that the Birmingham City

Council has been trying to address in recent months. Councilor Darrell O’Quinn, who serves as

the council representative for district 5, said he has been involved in conversations to create a

public education program for recycling, but did not know whether or not a plan has actually been

developed.

Birmingham currently has a weekly curbside recycling pickup service every Wednesday,

and years ago provided citizens with a recycling bin to be placed in front of their residence. The

service has been temporarily suspended due to COVID-19. As time has passed, the bins are

aging or even disappearing from homes and the city has had no plan in place to replace them

once they break or go missing. “$300,000 was made available in the fiscal year 2019-2020 city

budget to support recycling. It’s my understanding that at least a portion of those funds are

intended to go towards securing curbside bins.” Councilor O’Quinn said.

 Olivia Hart, a resident of Birmingham, expressed her concern with living in an apartment

where recycling isn’t a service offered by the complex nor picked up by the city. “It's more

economical and efficient to collect from those living most densely, yet we're the ones left out,”

Hart said. If residents living within a complex that doesn’t offer a recycling program that want

to take the initiative to participate in the program, they have to physically haul their materials to

a recycling facility that accepts material, which leads to issues when a facility is only open on

certain days and times of the week. Several other residents also said recycling needs to be

picked up from businesses, which often produce more recyclable material than your average

household. Frustration also abounds with residents who want to recycle glass, which isn’t picked

up by the city or available to be dropped off at local recycling facilities since the only facility to

accept it closed several years ago.

With those frustrations, there is hope with the current recycling program in place. Leigh

Shaffer with Birmingham Recycling and Recovery (BRR) says that they accept all of

Birmingham’s curbside recycling picked up weekly along with surrounding municipalities.

Commodities accepted, processed, and sold include paper, cardboard, plastic bottles and jugs

with a #1 or #2 recycling symbol on the bottom, aluminum and steel/tin cans. Any other items

are considered contamination and are separated out and disposed of in the landfill. Some items

that are trashed may be able to be recycled elsewhere, but not at the BRR facility (for example

plastic bags can be recycled at some supermarkets). “Residents should place recyclable items in

their bins loose, not bagged, and the items should be empty, clean and dry. Some items that are

trashed are not at all recyclable but residents may think they are and put them in the bin. Some

call this wish-cycling.” Shaffer said.

 In August of this year, Councilor Wardine Alexander who represents district 7 of

Birmingham, began her “Love D7 Environmental Day” which is aimed at raising awareness of

recycling, littering and other issues that imoact residents’ quality of life. During the first event,

four dumpsters were provided for residents to come dispose of large household items that would

normally be put on the curb for bulk trash pickup — things like mattresses, old appliances and

other items. “We wanted to give people the opportunity to get rid of these items without

cluttering up neighborhoods,” Alexander said. “The goal is to get one person, one household

recycling at a time. We want individuals to have the thought process that they can be the change

they want to see in the neighborhood, and that can start with recycling.” Since stepping into

office, Alexander has been keenly focused on improving the quality of life in her district,

especially as it relates to environmental issues. “Each environmental event we host is meant to

build on the last one,” Alexander said. “This one we have coming up is for residents to be able to

bring papers they needed shredded, whether it be old documents or newspapers or whatever they

might have around the house. We’ll then take that to be recycled.”

Hunter Williams, Birmingham City Councilor for District 2, expressed hope for the city

in the next 10 years. “My hope for the City of Birmingham is that it can truly become a green

and sustainable city that emphasizes recycling as a primary way to collect refuse from residents.

Over the next few years, I’d like to see our city become more educated and active as a recycling

community.” Williams said.

 Contact Page

Darrell O’Quinn
Birmingham City Council, District 5
205-254-2679
darrell.oquinn@birminghamal.gov

Olivia Hart
Birmingham resident
205-566-3437
h.olivia.hart@gmail.com

Leigh Shaffer
Birmingham Recycling and Recovery
205-591-8201
lshaffer@bhamrec.com

Hunter Williams
Birmingham City Council, District 2
205-254-2348
Hunter.Williams@birminghamal.gov

Wardine Alexander
Birmingham City Council, District 7
205-243-1327
Wardine.Alexander@birminghamal.gov