A kickoff event for the Bibb-Chilton regional recycling program will be Oct. 1 at 10 a.m. at the Bibb Correctional facility.

A group of different organizations throughout both Bibb and Chilton counties will kick off the recycling program including the Alabama Department of Corrections (DOC) in partnership with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Alabama Environmental Council, Bibb County Commission and Chilton County Commission, Chilton County Solid Waste Authority, Bibb County Schools, Bibb County Chamber of Commerce and municipalities in Bibb and Chilton counties.

The facility is located at 565 Bibb Lane in Brent.

The Bibb-Chilton Regional Recycling encourages citizens in both counties to recycle materials once considered waste into new products.

In the process, residents improve their own quality of life by embracing sustainable living and environmental stewardship, which in turn fosters economic well-being by reducing roadside litter, landfill waste and associated costs.

The project was funded by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management through a $112,328.50 grant from the Alabama Recycling Fund.

Two major goals of the project are to reduce demand for landfill space by recycling plastic, metals and paper and lower landfill tipping fees by recycling more materials and sending less volume to the landfills.

Reaching both goals will lower waste disposal costs incurred by county and municipal governments.

The grant funds will provide a truck, trailer and 15 recycling containers, as well as educational and promotional materials, which are being developed by Chilton County Extension Coordinator Gay West.

Out of the 15 recycling containers covered under the grant, Chilton will receive five of them to be placed at various locations throughout the county.

“Recycling will be new to many people in both counties,” Bibb County Extension Coordinator Matt Hartzell said in a release. “We will need to explain why and how citizens should recycle, what materials can and cannot be recycled and where to deposit recyclables.”

Materials accepted include No. 1 and No. 2 plastic containers, aluminum cans, metal cans, newspapers, non-waxed cardboard, shredded paper and paperback books.

Residents can put recyclable materials into properly marked metal containers at various locations in Bibb and Chilton counties.

Alabama DOC staff will collect containers filled with recyclable materials and transport them to Bibb Correctional Facility in Brent.

Inmates at Bibb Correctional Facility will then load collected recyclables onto a tractor-trailer, which will be transported when filled to Elmore Correctional Facility.

There, inmates will offload, separate and place recycled materials into designated areas or containers.

The materials will then be baled, sold and transported to private sector processors to be reused or converted into new materials.

For general project information visit, Aces.edu/bibbchiltonrecycling, or call the Chilton County Extension office at (205) 280-6268.

To report a full container, illegal dumping or container vandalism, call Inmate Control Systems at Bibb Correctional Facility at (205) 926-5252.