Recycling Center Receives User Friendly Upgrades

The recycling center in Broadus is currently undergoing a makeover, with the goal of an easier experience for folks dropping off recycling, as well as providing a more efficient workplace for those tasked with sorting and baling the recycled goods.

Earlier this year two part-time employees were hired to work at the recycling center. Sherry Unger Burley and Donovan Sturtz are now employed, with their positions entailing sorting through the multitudes of recycled goods, sorting out the correct recyclables from those that cannot be recycled, baling the goods into compact, transportable bales, and generally keeping tabs on the recycling center.

The center formerly held one large baler to compact the goods, and recently has two new, smaller balers. The interior of the center, which was formerly the old fairbarn, has been re-designed for more efficient work, with each container for different goods now more easily accessed.

Folks dropping off their goods may now access the majority of the recycling bins from the outside of the building, with drop slots located along the west wall, meaning a person may now drive up and deposit their goods without hauling goods inside the building. The only recyclable which still requires hauling inside is aluminum cans.

A number of the recyclable goods are remanufactured into products once they've reached the Billings recycling facilities – for example some plastics are broken down in beads and made into new plastic goods, while glass products may be used in asphalt.