If anyone is looking for a job that helps the environment through recycling, Ozark Foothills Regional Planning Commission is eager to make your acquaintance.
Andrew Murphy, assistant director for OFRPC, said that their Poplar Bluff recycling center, located at 1625 Rowe Parkway in the Industrial Park, has an urgent need for employees in order to effectively operate the center.
“Our biggest issue right now is finding people to work,” Murphy said.
“We have two full-time employees now,” he said, “but it’s impossible to operate with just two.”
“It’s hard to do with three.”
While the lingering effects of the COVID pandemic have played havoc with employment for many businesses and organizations, Murphy said COVID is no longer playing a role in the center.
The recycling center shutdown for COVID in March 2020, but they were back open by June of that year, although at that time, they were taking extra precautions and limiting interactions with the public.
The biggest problem now, according to Murphy, is that their two current employees cannot take any time off, and they aren’t able pick up recycling trailers at OFRPC’s other recycling locations.
“We do have community service workers who come to work at the center,” Murphy said, “but we have to have one of our employees on site to supervise them.”
The position requires a commercial driver’s license, and the commission does offer benefits with the position. They are currently accepting applications for the position.
The CDL is required to drive the trailers that transport the recycling materials. The commission’s other locations, in addition to Poplar Bluff, are Van Buren, Ellington, Doniphan, Wappapello and Piedmont.
“We are a non-profit, and we operate on a $90,000 grant,” Murphy said. “Our grant funding for solid waste management is limited because we have no landfills in our five-county district.
“The grant used to be more than $200,000, but that funding is linked to landfill fees, so without a landfill, our grant eligibility is lower.”
In addition to grant funding, the commissions uses whatever money is generated from the recyclables items that people drop off.
“Recycling is up because people are buying more consumer goods,” Murphy said.
“Many other surrounding rural areas have the same challenges,” he added. “It takes everything you have to keep something like this running.”
A full list of products that are accepted for recycling is listed on their website, which is www.ofrpc.org.
Accepted items include aluminum and tin cans, most kinds of paper, books and magazines, clean milk, soda, and water bottles, and used motor oil and tires (for a small fee).
The center does not accept glass, Styrofoam, high-density plastics, electronics, or hazardous materials bottles.
The recycling center is open most weeks Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. However, the center will be closed until May 31 to give their two employees some well-deserved time off.