Jackson Free Press

Soon, people who don't have residential recycling pickup will have a new drop-off location in the city of Jackson.

On Dec. 19, the city's Environmental Service Center at 1570 Terry Road will temporarily accept comingled paper and cardboard, aluminum and plastics—but not glass. The recycling facility follows the closure of two local recyclers in recent months.

In August, Global Plastics Recyclers on Palmyra Street closed its doors. Global, which reopened briefly after a warehouse fire this spring, became the only place to recycle glass after Rainbow ceased its glass-recycling program in 2012. Another company, Recycling Services Inc., on Mill Street in midtown, accepted paper and plastic recycling from the public but was cited for city and state environmental health violations, and remains closed.

However, with curbside recycling pickup only available to residential trash customers in Jackson—apartment buildings and complexes are commercial businesses and, therefore, do not receive recycling services—people wishing to recycle had few options but to throw many recyclables in with the rest of the garbage.

The city's Environmental Service Center represents a continuation of Mayor Chokwe Lumumba's efforts to fill campaign promises. During his campaign earlier this year, Lumumba said he wanted to grow the city's green economy and that he would launch a citywide cleanup effort.

The center could represent a valuable revenue stream for the city. Americans generate 243 million tons of trash annually, approximately 4.34 pounds of waste per day per person. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency information from Oct. 2011 shows that recycling materials recovery is a $236 billion industry that directly employs 1.1 million workers. Another 1.4 million jobs are tied to recycling.

The city has contracted with Waste Management through Sept. 2014, and is continuing to search for a permanent solution. Officials say the city, in partnership with Hinds County, has applied for a $400,000 Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality grant to help establish a permanent recycling center.

For more information, call the city's solid waste division at 601-960-0000.