TOLEDO, Ohio — Lucas County residents will soon have a new place to recycle as Lucas County commissioners approved a new multi-million dollar recycling facility Wednesday.
The planned site will be in south Toledo on 15 acres at Kuhlman Drive and South Avenue near I-75. Commissioner Pete Gerken said this new facility is 10 years in the making and was well-worth the wait.
"Right now, it's going to a spot, being pushed into a pile, sent off 90 miles away for processing," Gerken said. "That costs a lot of money, it's non-efficient, we don't get any benefit from the recyclables we put out."
Gerken said this will help save half a million dollars in transportation each year. Currently, recycling waste goes to facilities outside Ann Arbor and Youngstown.
The county worked with the city of Toledo to obtain use for the site. Lucas County Solid Wast Management District worked with national operator Closed Looped Partners who does more than just sort and compact the recyclables.
"They [Closed Looped Partners] process it, they give us a cut of the profits where they are, they give us education and training about recycling and they have a vision that I think is exciting," Gerken said.
It's also exciting for Toledo city councilmember and chair of the Water Quality and Sustainability Committee Nick Komives who said this will be a revenue stream for the city and county to pay for the operation locally.
"People want to buy recycled materials, including local companies," Komives said. "So we're really looking forward to being able to offer glass to recycle to our local companies who want to pay for it because they can reuse it."
Komives said they hope this operation will launch further opportunities to conserve waste in Toledo and beyond.
"Likely, [this] will provide enough revenue to expand the site to make it even bigger," Gerken said. "And maybe even thinking of processing recyclables for outside communities outside Toledo as well."
Gerken said the county was awarded a $7 million state grant for remediation of the land. Organizers said the project is expected to complete in late 2025.
Gerken and Komives both said this is a wonderful example of county, city, private and public organizations working together.
They also hope to do more than curbside recycling and open up more opportunities to repurpose clothing and deal with food waste in the future.
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