Recycle Utah unexpectedly closed around noon Monday. Executive Director Andy Hecht said the nonprofit had to close its doors because its baler is broken.
That’s the nonprofit’s workhorse that compresses material into bales.
“Monday is by far our busiest day of the week, and we were looking at the rate of material coming in, the volume of material coming in, and we just did not have the capacity to store any more material until that baler is fixed,” Hecht said.
Hecht said Recycle Utah doesn’t have enough space to hold much extra material; staff was also getting overloaded.
Repairs are expected to be complete by midday Tuesday, or Wednesday morning at the latest.
Hecht said a closure like this shouldn’t happen again. The team plans to buy a new baler next year which can do double the work.
“It was 1997 when this baler was made. It is so old; it should have been retired years ago,” Hecht said. “I've worked it into next year's budget to secure a new baler.”
Hecht said he’s also excited for the nonprofit to move into a bigger, permanent home in the next couple of years. A larger space will help prevent the facility from being overloaded.
The nonprofit is open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Recycle Utah is a financial supporter of KPCW.
