Nov. 15 is America Recycles Day, and every year on or around that date, entities like the Athens-Limestone Recycling Center and Keep Athens-Limestone Beautiful celebrate with different events.

The day is a bit more special this year for the recycling center, as it celebrates its 40th anniversary.

Plant Manager Ruby McCartney said the recycling center will have a table with refreshments, giveaways, drawings and items for children as part of an anniversary commemoration from 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday. McCartney said the center opted to have the celebration on Monday because Nov. 15 falls on a Sunday this year.

“It feels good (for the center to turn 40),” she said. “Every year is a different challenge it seems like, but we are happy to serve the residents of Athens and Limestone County.”

McCartney said the center will be doing its part to help keep everyone safe when it comes to maintaining social distancing and individually wrapping items to be handed out.

The recycling center was forced to close when restrictions surrounding COVID-19 were first put in place, but since reopening, all recyclables except plastics are being collected once again, including cardboard, aluminum, steel, newspaper, glass and used motor and cooking oils.

McCartney said the reason plastics aren’t being collected is a lack of labor due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Every piece of plastic has to be sorted by hand, and we’re short on labor right now,” she said.

Like many similar establishments, the Athens-Limestone Recycling Center uses inmate labor to help with its sorting. That labor is not available right now due to coronavirus restrictions.

The center is located at 15896 Lucas Ferry Road.

Early awareness

America Recycles Day became a nationwide occurrence in 1997. Keep Athens-Limestone Beautiful celebrates the occasion each year by making trips to local schools and telling students about the nonprofit’s efforts.

“Our main focus is talking to fifth and sixth graders about the importance of recycling, but we can’t do that this year,” said Leigh Patterson, KALB’s executive coordinator. “What we have done is film a video to be shown to the classes that is a tour of the recycling center.”

Patterson said KALB works to bring awareness on recycling to young students because of the impact it may have on their lives going forward.

“If you teach them early on, they will, in turn, teach their families,” she said. “It it makes a bigger impression on them to go younger because then they form habits and start thinking in that mindset. Hopefully they will do that for a lifetime. We also teach them not to litter and why it’s bad.”

KALB works in partnership with the Athens-Limestone Recycling Center, which Patterson said is the oldest nonprofit recycling center in Alabama. She said having a recycling center available to residents is “very important.”

“We have a lot of residents who are concerned with recycling,” Patterson said. “Many people have become more aware just how important the center is over COVID. When they weren’t able to take anything at all, people were upset.”