Going for the green: Orange Grove seeks funding to grow recycling program

Bobby Thomas, left, and Greg Poe work at a conveyer belt sorting recyclable materials at the Orange Grove recycling center in Chattanooga.
Bobby Thomas, left, and Greg Poe work at a conveyer belt sorting recyclable materials at the Orange Grove recycling center in Chattanooga.
photo Plant manager Floyd Dean oversees a recycling drop-off.

Orange Grove's recycling center is a constant hum of trucks, fork lifts, bailers and conveyor belts. Five days a week, workers line the fast-moving conveyor belts to sort water bottles, bean cans and cat food coupons into their proper piles: plastic, metal, paper.

Last year, the center processed more than 4,000 tons of recyclables. And Orange Grove officials expect demand will only continue to grow. The city of Chattanooga plans to push curbside recycling participation up from 14,000 households to 26,000 households, said Heidi Hoffecker, Orange Grove's director of development.

And the city has started to allow glass in its curbside recycling program, which brings in more materials and makes sorting recyclables more difficult. By the time they arrive at the facility, old Snapple bottles and pickle jars are often broken into hundreds of shards, making it difficult for workers to sort them. Sometimes glass ends up in the soles of people's shoes, getting tracked home with them.

With dated equipment and rising demand, Orange Grove says it's time for big upgrades in its recycling center. The facility is looking to spend about $1.5 million for new machines that will help automate the process. Along with a larger, wider belt, the center hopes to add mechanisms that will help sort glass automatically from the line. Another will suck out plastic grocery bags from the mix. And new magnets will help sort metals.

If fully funded, these will be the biggest upgrades since the recycling program began more than 25 ago.

"These upgrades will be the most significant upgrades to the plant since we started," Hoffecker said. "We planned well enough ahead then to be able to handle everything we've done, steadily increasing volume since 1988. But now it's time to make some upgrades."

Orange Grove has secured $250,000 in funding from Chattanooga for its upgrades. The Lyndhurst Foundation committed another $250,000. Officials also made a presentation to the Hamilton County Commission and County Mayor Jim Coppinger during recent budget hearings and asked for $250,000. County officials asked no questions and Coppinger could not be reached for comment Friday.

Hoffecker said the rest of the funding will likely come from grants.

The recycling program, which processes all of Chattanooga's curbside recycling, has a twofold mission: Aside from the obvious environmental benefits of recycling, the program provides 150 jobs to individuals with intellectual disabilities.

Orange Grove Executive Director Kyle Hauth told county officials at the presentation that Orange Grove's would be a one-time request.

"Just to be able to process all the material that's coming our way," he said, "it's really important that we're able to make these upgrades."

Tera Roberts, Orange Grove's director of adult services, said the organization is excited that more and more locals are choosing to recycle.

"We want to always be able to handle the growth," she said. "We just need to stay ahead of the curve. We've been doing this for 27 years in Chattanooga. And we need a big overhaul of our system, and hopefully one that will last for the next 27 years."

Contact staff writer Kevin Hardy at khardy@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249.

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