The city of Columbia’s recycling facility was destroyed by a tornado five months ago . This presents a unique opportunity for the city to reinvent its recycling program. The question that city officials are still discussing is “How?”

Remarkably, the technology was unharmed in the storm, but it’s still 25 years old and will most likely need replacing, said Utilities spokesperson Jason West. Recycling advocates argue successful recycling doesn’t rely on technology alone.

Promise shown in a different city

Located just west of St. Louis, in St. Peters, Missouri, is Recycle City, a material recovery facility that opened this summer. St. Peters is one of only three municipalities in the country with this state-of-the-art technology. The waste comes mixed together, with sorting done by

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