Brewery expansion could help Juneau recycling

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Alaskan Brewing Company’s plans to expand its Juneau-based facility could help spur the consolidation of the city’s waste services.

The brewery is looking to purchase four lots owned by the City and Borough of Juneau for additional retail, storage or office space. The transfer would displace the city’s water utility and public drop-off area for household hazardous waste, The Juneau Empire reported.

“We’re interested, so it could happen fairly quickly on our schedule,’’ said Alaskan Brewing Company spokesman Andy Kline, “but it’s up to the city to say, `Yes.’ They’d have to figure out what to do with the hazardous waste area.’’

RecycleWorks Manager Michele Elfers told city and borough officials at last week’s assembly meeting that relocating the hazardous waste drop-off facility could help streamline the city’s plans to consolidate waste services.

Juneau currently has three recycling programs all in separate locations. If forced to move the drop-off facility, the city could create a new hazardous waste drop-off location where residents could also dispose of recycling, composting and scrap metal. Having the operations housed on one property could lower operating and maintenance costs.

“I think it could be a really exciting opportunity for Juneau in general and the community because Alaskan Brewing Company is a really valuable business and community asset for us, and it could provide some opportunity for the RecycleWorks program too, to take our service to a higher level,’’ Elfers said.

The city opened the drop-off facility for hazardous waste in 2014. Before that, the city held only a few events to collect such waste each year. The total amount of hazardous waste collected from 2014 to 2015 increased by 100 tons.

Elfers has proposed several locations for a new consolidated recycling center, including a gravel pit in Lemon Creek and the Capitol Landfill.

Assembly members have decided to look into the relocation and consolidation of waste programs.

Alaskan Brewing Company is aware of its potential impact on the city’s recycling efforts. Kline said RecycleWorks’ environmentally friendly operations are in line with how the brewery runs its business.

“If we can assist, if we can be a catalyst in the community to allow for our waste to be used in a more efficient way community-wide, then we totally would advocate for that,’’ Kline said.