The city of Columbia is partnering with a Jefferson City service to resume taking some recyclables to a recycling facility.

The Columbia Solid Waste Utility will start transferring plastic bottles (such as soft drink, water or soda bottles), plastic containers (such as detergent, milk or shampoo bottles), aluminum beverage cans and metal food cans to a recycling facility, according to a Tuesday news release from Columbia Utilities.

Residents should put these recyclables in their blue recycling bags, according to the news release. The city will take these materials to Federal Recycling & Waste Solutions in Jefferson City.

The new guidelines are effective immediately.

The city will not recycle glass or certain plastics under the new guidelines. Columbia Utilities said in the news release that contamination from trash, glass and low-value plastics can damage processing equipment and reduce the overall value of recyclables, which increases recycling costs for the city.

The city asks residents not to place these items in blue bags at this time: 

Glass bottlesGlass jarsYogurt cupsClamshell produce containersDairy product tubsBlack plastics or takeout containersStyrofoam containersPackaging materialPlastic bagsTrash


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Mixed fibers, such as cardboard and paper, can still be bundled and left on the curb for collection, according to the city. The city will continue taking these materials to the landfill and said they should not be placed in blue recycling bags.

The updated recycling guidelines come just under three months after an EF1 tornado destroyed the city’s Material Recovery Facility. The April 20 tornado led City Manager De’Carlon Seewood to declare an emergency in the city as recycling pickup was suspended indefinitely.

The city began picking up recyclables again but has been taking them to the landfill.

Since then, some residents have been taking their recyclables to other municipalities, which has caused contamination and overcapacity. The Ashland recycling lot had blue bags from Columbia in it in June, but recycling facilities outside Columbia do not accept the blue bags.

Columbia city leaders said they acknowledge the inconvenience of not having a recycling program but asked the public to avoid facilities like those in Ashland and Jefferson City, according to past KOMU 8 reporting.

The city of Columbia has demolished the wreckage of the Material Recovery Facility and is now asking residents for feedback on a new recycling facility.