CHaRM facility opens in Fairhope, Alabama

The Solid Waste Disposal Authority (SWDA) of Baldwin County, Alabama, recently opened the state’s first Center for Hard-to-Recycle Materials (CHaRM), offering residents a manned convenience center for items not accepted curbside.

According to the SWDA, more than 50 community members, elected officials and sustainability partners attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Fairhope site.

“This facility gives our residents the added infrastructure they need to recycle everyday items that couldn’t be handled curbside,” SWDA CEO Terri Graham says. “By diverting these materials from the material recovery facility, we are ensuring safety for our workers as well as protecting our waterways, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and building a more sustainable future by keeping these resources out of our landfills.”

Fairhope Mayor Sherry Sullivan calls the CHaRM facility a game-changer for the community. “Now residents throughout Baldwin County have one convenient location to drop off electronics, batteries, paint and other hard-to-recycle items, helping keep our county clean and green.”

The SWDA says the facility is open Monday-Friday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Saturday from 7 a.m.-noon, and no appointments are needed. Residents may bring aluminum cans; glass bottles and jars; cardboard; Nos. 1-7 plastics; mixed paper; small household batteries and light bulbs for free.

A small handling fee applies to certain items:

• Residential paint and household hazardous waste are $2 per gallon.
• Car batteries are $2 each.
• Propane tanks and fire extinguishers are $4 each.
• Electronics such as TVs, phones and laptops are $5 per unit.

Items not accepted at the CHaRM include tires, mattresses, construction debris, furniture, medical or biohazardous waste and white goods.

Since launching in June, SWDA says its curbside recycling program has enrolled hundreds of Daphne households. Together with the CHaRM facility, it says its initiatives are projected to divert thousands of tons of material from Baldwin County landfills in their first year.