Commission approves tax abatement for new recycling company

Shoals Economic Development Authority Executive Director Forrest Wright said the company is a "waste paper consolidator" that will bring in recyclable materials from various sources, which is sorted and then made available for companies that utilize wastepaper.

Colbert County attorney Edgar Black said the commission abated a total of $24,089 in non-educational ad valorem and sales taxes over a 10-year period.

Recycling Management Resources will build its facility in the old UCM Magnesia building at 510 Mulberry Lane, which is just outside the Barton Riverfront Industrial Park, Wright said.

Black said the company plans to make a $1.8 million investment and will employ 23 people within three years. That includes $560,000 for facility improvements and $1.3 million for equipment.

The plant will be located in Charlie Hovater's Sixth District.

"I've always been an advocate for jobs," Hovater said. 

The taxes being abated would be for the purchase of equipment and additions to the existing building, Black said.

The company has plant locations in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Raleigh and High Point, North Carolina, and Louisville, Kentucky.

Wright said SCA Tissue, which is located in the Barton Riverfront Industrial Park, is the type of company RMR could provide materials to.

Colbert County Commissioner Roger Creekmore said SCA Tissue would be a primary customer for RMR's recycled material.

"The county should always support recycling efforts because every pound of material we recycle is a pound of material we don't have to put into the landfill," Creekmore said. "They're adding 23 jobs and will renovate and occupy a facility that has been sitting there dormant for a number of years. That's a positive thing."

Wright pointed out since this is an existing facility already on the county's tax roles, the taxes currently being paid on the building and property will continue to be paid.

"The county did not abate any existing taxes," he said.