Operated by the Morgan County Landfill, the Decatur Recycling Center's baler broke Feb. 26, one day before its warranty expired. That put recycling on hold for Decatur, Athens, Hartselle, Cullman and Morgan County.
On Monday, the Decatur City Council approved purchasing a new Gemini Xtreme manual tie horizontal baler with a 460-volt power pack for $115,337 from Marathon Equipment Co., of Vernon.
Landfill Director Wanda Tyler said Marathon was aware of Monday's vote and expected to ship the new baler Tuesday. She estimated it would then take four to six weeks to install the baler and get the Recycling Center back online.
Mayor Kent Lawrence said after the meeting that "we're hoping for four to six weeks. It could be longer, or it could be shorter. We won't know until somebody comes in and tells us what it's going to take to install it."
Lawrence said the city issued the purchase order Monday after notifying the company to be on standby pending the council vote.
Lawrence said he knows recycling is popular with residents in Decatur and the other participating cities.
"People want to recycle, and they can't, so they're either putting it in their regular trash or they're holding it," he said. "We do make a little money off recycling, so we [are] missing those revenues."
The broken baler is being repaired since most of the parts are still under warranty. That gives the center a backup to avoid future shutdowns, Tyler said.
AI SYSTEM
The council also approved the purchase of two Max-AI AIR with a Max-AI Autonomous Quality Control robots from Bulk Handling Systems, of Trinity, for $742,272.
Tyler said the new AI sorting system will likely be installed and operation in June or July.
She said the AI system will allow the Recycling Center to reduce the number of Limestone County Correctional Facility inmates employed from 14 to four. The center operates with a manager/supervisor and two recycling maintenance employees.
"It's a sorting system that will take care of the issues that we've had with labor, whether it's COVID, the flu and drug-testing," she said.
For example, Tyler said the Alabama Department of Corrections informed her about the investigation of an inmate who allegedly had communicated with a 14-year-old minor.
"They pulled all 14 of the men assigned to us, and for eight weeks we had no labor," Tyler said.
She said the center pays each inmate $20 a day, or about $4,160 a year, so five sorters cost about $104,000 annually.
"The return on investment with this type of technology is about $580,000, and that's being conservative," Tyler said. "Last year, we made about $350,000 with us hand sorting, and we can do much better."
She said they will place one of the AI systems at the beginning and one in the spot where they bring in the highest-priced commodities.
"Physically, we have to have a human at the beginning because we get a lot of wish recycling, a lot of medical waste, a lot of trash that shouldn't be there," Tyler said. "They're going to grab that before it goes into the robot area."
Tyler said they still need an employee on the bobcat pushing the recyclable trash up the conveyor and an employee monitoring what's going through polishing and other parts of the system.
"We won't need 14 people, but we won't be so dependent on Department of Corrections labor. That's the key," she said.
Tyler said the AI system will also double the center's capacity from 100,000 to 350,000 tons a year to an estimated 500,000 tons, "depending on what we can sell back into the market in regards recyclable trash or commodity."
She said the center continues to see an increase in recycling materials. Decatur switched to larger 96-gallon recycling carts and has had an 8-ton increase in recycling in the past six months, she said.
Athens went from four trucks in 2024 to six trucks this year coming to the Recycling Center, she said.
Tyler said she is seeking grant funds to pay for installation and maintenance of the AI sorters.
©2026 The Decatur Daily, Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
