Press Release: ECUA received an update from the supplier providing the two conveyor belts needed to operate the processing lines. They have again delayed the shipping date to today, Sept 2.
Based on the new shipping date, we are proposing a staged reopening of the Materials Recycling Facility the week of September 26. On Monday of that week, the MRF will begin processing recycling materials from all of our recycling partners except the City of Pensacola and ECUA customers. The ECUA and the City of Pensacola flows can begin on Thursday of that week. This staged reopening will allow ECUA staff to make necessary adjustments and tensioning of new belts while only handling about 30% of its full-volume flows the first three days of that week. We will then be ready to start receiving the remaining 70% of our normal flows on Thursday, which comes from the customers of the ECUA and the city of Pensacola.
The ECUA Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) was closed following the failure of an essential piece of equipment on June 16. This equipment, the second of two aging conveyor belts, was slated for replacement in this fiscal year. The ECUA Board approved the $82,000 purchase of two new replacement belts at its February 2022 meeting. Unfortunately, the existing equipment did not outlast the supply chain delays that are affecting so many businesses across the country, and which have now created an issue for the MRF as well. These conveyor belts are critical parts of the infeed system to the MRF and the facility cannot operate without them.
?ECUA maintenance crews have taken advantage of this downtime to conduct extensive maintenance activities at the MRF that would generally require a facility shutdown. We have replaced rollers, bearings, tail pulleys, hydraulic maintenance, as well as replacement of 13 other belts, and assorted other maintenance work. Meanwhile, we are continuing normal recycling collection, and recyclables will, unfortunately, be landfilled. ECUA’s recycling program is a free opt-in service for residential sanitation accounts, and we urge our customers to keep in a positive recycling habit during this interruption in the recycling program.
We will continue to provide updates on the anticipated equipment delivery and the resumption of operations at the MRF as progress is made and information becomes available.