Montgomery Awarded For Advanced Technology
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Cities like Huntsville get a lot of press for being ahead of the technology curve.
But today the city of Montgomery received an award, beating out others across the state.
The award was given out by the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama.
They chose the capital city because of the special partnership with the state of the art recycling center.
It’s been about a year and a half since Montgomery’s new recycling center opened.
The new facility automatically sorts recyclables from trash and is the first of its kind.
That’s what caught the attention of EDPA vice president Angela Wier.
“We are of course looking for technology so the application of technology to help the whole city recycle and improve the rates and make it a renewable civic project to make the city cleaner and extend the life of the landfill, all those things really stood out,” said Wier.
Montgomery competed against 11 other city’s across the state, making it into the final three where Mayor Todd Strange and other leaders had to interview for the Alabama Innovation award.
Mayor Strange says this speaks volumes about what’s happening in Montgomery.
“But to be selected ahead of all these other technology situations throughout the state it really speaks volumes about what’s happening in Montgomery. We are on the leading edge of technology and we have a lot more to come,” said Strange.
Since opening in April of last year, the new plant has diverted more than 60 percent of residents’ waste from landfills in the area. It can go through up to 30 tons of waste in just a single hour. And the company is working hard to improve the technology.
“It’s new technology, very infant. We’re just kind of getting out of that infancy state, but we’re doing well. It’s challenging like anything especially to its size and configuration but we’ll get there,” said Daniel Carlisle, Infinitus facilities operation manager.
