Madison County’s Solid Waste and Recycling Department strives diligently to sustain a clean environment for the citizens of Madison County, Fl. Their mission is to equip excellent services to citizens by collecting, processing and recycling goods and solid waste materials produced by the county’s citizens. Also, to ensure a sustainable living environment by maintaining the proper requirements for the disposal of materials that can be a threat to ecological standards. Jerome Wyche, the coordinator since 2006, said this is a solid investment in real property and equipment that enhances a waste disposal system unlike any of the surrounding counties of Madison County, including South Georgia. “It takes a team effort to provide a safe, quality service of collecting, processing and recycling of solid waste materials and goods generated by the citizens of Madison County,” Wyche said. “Our youngest employee at a collection site is about 30 or 35 and the oldest is almost 90.” The department is funded through revenue generated from equipment leases and rentals, a small county grant, sale of reclaimed recyclables and county assessment for citizen taxpayers.
According to the Madison County Board of Commissioners, the department is responsible for maintaining the upkeep of the landfill, managing 13 collection sites, providing services to 16, 500 citizens, managing a fiscal budget of $1,500, utilizing the assigned inmate crew, educating citizens on waste disposal, marketing reclaimed recyclables and collecting and disposing of them, managing and maintaining collections of hazardous household waste, the 36 plus department and maintaining an operable and efficient vehicle fleet. All collection sites are closed on Sunday but are open Monday through Saturday. They are open 12 hours a day and the bigger sites are managed by two people who work six hours each. All collection sites are open 260 days per year and closed on one day of the week for cleaning. David Williams, site manager of Ravenswood/U.S. Highway 90 in Madison County, manages the collection of incoming solid waste and directs customers to the correct areas of magazines, glass, bulk, yard waste, metal and other areas at the site.
“I’ve been here for over two years and we always get compliments from people about the appearance and upkeep of the site,” Williams said. “People that have recently moved in the area inform us of how great of a job we’re doing.” County citizens that pay their annual assessment are enabled to access any of the 13 collection sites, five days a week for 52 weeks of the year. To dispose of all waste, citizens pay 73 cents a year. Sharon Smith, the administrator office manager, said she does schedules for all the collection sites and deals with residents. “I’ve been here for 20 years and I enjoy the interaction with the people the most,” said Smith. “All of our employees here have a good working relationship, we’re like a small family; I love it.”
[inpost_fancy thumb_width="200" thumb_height="200" post_id="3070" thumb_margin_left="0" thumb_margin_bottom="0" thumb_border_radius="2" thumb_shadow="0 1px 4px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2)" id="" random="0" group="0" border="" show_in_popup="0" album_cover="" album_cover_width="200" album_cover_height="200" popup_width="800" popup_max_height="600" popup_title="Gallery" type="fancy" sc_id="sc1437512576408"]
1. Greene Publishing, Inc. Photo by Shikari Hamm, June 29, 2015. Frequent site user throws away trash at one of the B Collection sites.
2. Jerome Wyche, Solid Waste and Eecylcing Coordinator.
3. Greene Publishing, Inc. Photo by Shikari Hamm, June 29, 2015 Frequent site user of Madison County throwing away bulk.