Fentress County will look to rebuild its main recycling center after a fire destroyed the building last week.
County Executive Jimmy Johnson said damages amount to $630,000.
“That’s what our inventory came to, plus what revenue we will lose for not being able to recycle,” Johnson said “but we will put things back together. We’re just grateful that we have a great insurance company that’s going to hopefully replace the biggest portion of it.”
The fire burned all equipment and recycled materials inside the center. Johnson said the county will be shipping all future materials to surrounding counties.
“We would like to appreciate Putnam and Cumberland County for taking some of the recyclables that we have at this time,” Johnson said.
Johnson said the loss the recycling center won’t be an inconvenience to residents. He said recyclables and trash will continue being picked up at the county’s other convenience centers.
“After they separate all their recyclables, it’s still going to the same place and we’re just trying to ship it out to another county that is doing the same thing that we did,” Johnson said. “They’ve been more than gracious.”
Johnson hopes to begin rebuilding the recycling center within the next four or five months. A cause of last week’s fire remains unknown at this time.