Recycling Program

A Division of the ARC of Madison County
312 Cahill Dr. Suite #E
Huntsville, AL 35811
Phone (256) 382-4478

In 1997, The Arc of Madison County developed a community-recycling program, which taught employment skills to people with mental retardation. The object of the program was to integrate adults, with mental retardation into community settings while they work on vocational skills, social skills, fine motor skills, and self-care skills. The program also expanded upon a small "in-house" recycle program which educated our participants on the value of recycling and the difference recycling can make in our community. The recycle program started with eight (8) employees/material handlers which recycled at ten (10) sites in the community.

The Arc now employs forty-five (45) adults with mental retardation and provides recycle services at one hundred and eleven (111) community sites. These sites range from McDonald Elementary School to Intergraph Corporation. Eighteen (18) of the forty-five (45) workers are material handlers. These employees gather the recycle products from community recycle sites, load the material on a vehicle, and bring them to The Arc Lowe Facility for sorting. The additional twenty-seven (27) workers are the sorters who sort the paper products upon receipt. The Arc currently collects soda cans, office paper, aluminum wire, and printer cartridges.

Once sorted, the recycle center picks up and weighs all recycle material and in turn pays The Arc for materials received. All money received from the sale of recycle material in turn helps to pay salaries of the individuals who sort the paper.

The program has demonstrated great benefits to the clients at The Arc. Many of these workers have transferred to community jobs in non-sheltered environments such as working at Publix and with the City of Huntsville. The program has also been beneficial to the Madison County area as 111 businesses located in this area are receiving free recycle services. Due to the increased costs for recycle services, the majority of the schools, non-profits, and companies served by the program had disposed of recycle materials with their regular trash instead of paying to recycle. The cost savings and excellent service provided through the program has resulted in increased word of mouth publicity, and has resulted in a dramatic increase in requests for recycle assistance.

The program has been successful in many ways. First, it has provided a job opportunity that has significantly increased the self-worth and self-esteem of each worker; second, it has demonstrated to the public that people with mental retardation can work; and third, it has helped to provide a valuable service to our community as approximately 3.84 tons of aluminum and 70.72 tons of paper were collected last year. This BTU savings totaled $11,662.