Work on a covered area to protect the city’s recycled materials from contamination should be completed today, ensuring that  recycling collection can continue.

Recycling efforts led to a hiccup in February as the city was forced to find a new recycling company. Concordia Metals said they could not accept Brookhaven’s recycling due to contamination.

The city currently has a contract with Sumrall Recycling, and officials having been seeking ways to cut down on contamination.

The Board of Aldermen voted in February to shut down recycling at drop off-bins at the beginning of March due to people dropping off items that cannot be recycled.

Besides contamination from residents who would put non-recyclables into the drop-off bins, there was nowhere to house the collected recycling for the weeks between deliveries to Concordia. This led to rain getting into the recycling and contaminating entire batches.

Reed’s Metals of Brookhaven was awarded the bid to construct the facility to protect against. The cost to build the facility was $11,272.

The city was able to get a regional recycling grant issued by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality to allow Reed’s Metals to build a covered area to shield the city’s recycling from the elements.

“The building should be completed by Thursday afternoon,” Ward 6 Alderman David Phillips said.

He said once finished the city building inspector will inspect it before it can be used.

“The recycling committee is excited to be able to address the concerns of the Sumrall Recycling center and give them high quality recyclables,” Phillips said.

The drop-off bins were part of a multiple-part recycling effort championed by the city and funded by a grant from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality.

Other parts of the city’s recycling efforts include dispersing 35-gallon containers to Brookhaven residents, placing 57 recycling bins around the city next to trash bins in parks, downtown and at city buildings. The city also placed four 35-gallon recycling containers at each of the city public schools as well as one at the public library.