DIGGING IT

PALMER — Shovels hit the dirt yesterday at the site for the state-of-the-art recycling center coming to the Valley.

The facility off 49th State Street will be owned by the Matanuska-Susitna Borough and operated under a 20-year agreement by Valley Community for Recycling Solutions. VCRS officials said the 23,600-square-foot building will initially divert 25 percent of the waste from entering the Mat-Su landfill.

“With the new space, we can accept more plastics, woods, paper and compostables and organics,” VCRS executive director Mollie Boyer said. “Once we expand our systems through research and development, we can even expand the types of products we can reuse.”

Part of the research and development efforts will come through its partnership with Mat-Su College, Boyer said. Speaking before the crowd, Mat-Su College President Dennis Clark said the college will use the classroom inside the new facility for their renewable energy program. The program hopes to turn waste into energy, he said.

This facility will prove to be “the center for renewable energy in the state of Alaska,” Clark said.

Borough Manager John Duffy admitted securing the $6.5 million in funding was a challenge. He thanked the borough assembly for their commitment to green jobs and hinted at a partnership with Alaska Job Corps to develop a solar wastewater treatment plant at the recycling facility.

“We take it seriously,” Duffy said of the green initiatives around the Valley. “We are trying to walk the talk.”

Former state Sen. Lyda Green said Boyer has been on speed dial through the process of securing the $800,000 in funding the facility received from the legislature. They fought through two budget vetoes and competition from other projects around the state.

The problem with trying to get funding for a nonprofit from the state, Green said, is “suddenly there are 19 other legislators with the same idea for their district.”

However, through all this, Boyer has dealt with the ups and downs “far better than I,” Green said.

Boyer, ecstatic to finally break ground, said they have the perfect location for the new center. There is another construction site adjacent, and they can capture all the worksite waste immediately, she said. With a view of Pioneer Peak, Boyer pointed to what she called the mountain of garbage at the Mat-Su landfill below. Everyday, they can see what they are working against, she said.

Boyer said the new facility will allow them to avoid the problems that are typically associated with recycling in Alaska. Like any commodity, the market for recyclables is cyclical, she said.

“The increased storage space will let us negotiate a better price or wait for a better price,” Boyer said.

She is hoping to have a ribbon cutting ceremony in November of 2010, and VCRS is already talking to the city of Palmer about expanding curbside trash pick up to include recyclables.

Contact Todd L. Disher at todd.disher@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.