The Columbia City Council is assessing options for rebuilding the recycling facility that was destroyed in an Easter Sunday tornado — a project expected to take more than two years. In the interim, new Utilities Director Erin Keys is considering potential short-term solutions such as processing the materials in Columbia and transferring them to a nearby city.

Keys said the department is assessing what, if anything, can be salvaged from the wreckage of the Material Recovery Facility. Equipment used to sort and package recyclables was also damaged in the storm.

“The main piece that we're looking at is the baler,” Keys said. “If we're able to bale some of our own recycling materials, there's a higher value to it. If we're not able to bale it ourselves, we just don't get as much money back.”

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