Aluminum recycling underway at MOI

On July 5, Malta Opportunities Inc. (MOI) received a game-changer for their recycling system. The group expected a new, enclosed trailer for can recycling. The trailer, donated by several local companies, will allow MOI to recycle cans more efficiently.

"We had the two can containers out front," Kathy Ereaux said. "They weren't enough to consume the amount of cans we were getting."

The trailer was sponsored by local area merchants. The Phillips County Community Foundation donated $2,500 and Triangle Communications and CoBank donated $2,000. The trailer was built by Pat Gibbs of Gibbs Welding.

While the containers have worked for years, the process of storing the cans was a pretty tough and nasty task.

"They donated the trailer which is a cleaner process, it's not a mess and we're able to take more cans," Ereaux said.

The old storage system had no ventilation creating unimaginable smells when the clients would work on moving the cans to MOI's can crusher which was purchased from Pacific Steel.

"It reeks," Kendra Green said. "It gets bad in the summer time."

If clearing the old storage containers was a weekly process, then there would be no need for change, but that wasn't the case due to the fact the containers took several weeks to fill.

"Sometimes we would store the cans in the shed for a good month or longer before we actually crush them," Ereaux said. "It's a process. It's not a very pleasant one."

With the new trailer the cans are less prone to become stagnant due to the fact they are exposed to the outside air.

The trailer also allows those in the area that want to recycle cans an easier way to dispose of their cans. Simply drive up to the trailer and throw cans into the trailer.

Having a trailer with wheels also allows for more efficient transport by simply hitching to a pickup to move the load to the crusher.

The proceeds of MOI Recycling is a big part of MOI's funding. As of last Monday, August 8 aluminum cans could be sold to Pacific Steel and Recycling for thirty cents a pound. Roughly thirty to thirty-two cans equal one pound.

According the website dosomething.org, Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to listen to a full album on an Ipod and recycling 100 cans could light a bedroom for two weeks. The Container Recycling Center estimates that the 36 billion aluminum cans dumped in landfills last year had a scrap value of more than $600 million.