SWDA Recycling Education Trailer Brings Hands-On Lessons to Baldwin County Schools and Festivals

DAPHNE, Ala. — The Solid Waste Disposal Authority of Baldwin County is bringing its lessons on recycling to schools, festivals and neighborhoods with a new recycling education trailer, a 24-foot mobile classroom it calls the Waste and Recycling Mobile Adventure.

The hands-on trailer, paid for with a state recycling grant, made its first appearances this summer and is headed next to the Jubilee Festival of Arts in Daphne this weekend.

A classroom on wheels

The Mobile Adventure is designed for schools, community events and neighborhoods across the Gulf Coast. Inside, visitors move through five interactive learning stations with activities and real-world demonstrations covering recycling, waste management and sustainability.

Visitors can:

• Learn how to sort materials properly
• See how the recycling process works
• Use age-friendly educational materials
• Take part in activities led by SWDA staff, who are on hand to answer questions

The authority says the trailer will be available throughout the year for school visits, community events, festivals and outreach programs in Baldwin County and surrounding areas.

Where it has been, and where it’s going

The trailer launched this summer with stops at:

• The Town of Silverhill’s Back-to-School Bash
• The Bay Minette Rotary Club
• The Baldwin County Commission’s America 250th Celebration at the Daphne Civic Center

Upcoming stops include:

• Jubilee Festival of Arts: Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 17-18, at Lott Park in Olde Towne Daphne
• North Baldwin Chamber of Commerce Christmas Fest: Friday and Saturday, Dec. 11-12, at the Bay Minette Downtown Square

‘What really happens when they recycle’

SWDA CEO Terri Graham said the trailer is meant to make recycling education easy to reach for people of all ages.

“We’re excited to offer a fun, accessible way for residents of all ages to learn what really happens when they recycle,” Graham said in a release. “This mobile classroom allows us to continue to raise awareness and educate our community about the importance of recycling and all the ways we can work together as a community for a cleaner, more sustainable Baldwin County.”

Understanding what happens after the curb is a big part of recycling well. Items that don’t belong in a recycling cart, such as plastic bags, food-soiled containers, hoses and other “tanglers,” can jam sorting equipment, slow down processing and contaminate loads of otherwise valuable material. Teaching residents to sort correctly at home is one of the most effective ways to keep a recycling program working.

Funded by a state recycling grant

SWDA received the maximum grant award of $148,752 from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management to expand recycling education and community outreach through the Mobile Adventure.

ADEM is the administrative agency for recycling projects funded through the Alabama Recycling Fund Grant Program, which supports local governments and other eligible groups working to improve recycling and waste reduction around the state.

Connected to Baldwin County’s recycling plant

The trailer adds to the authority’s broader recycling work, which centers on its Materials Recovery Facility in Summerdale. SWDA opened the roughly $25 million plant in March 2025. When it opened, the authority said the 62,000-square-foot facility was designed to process up to 40,000 tons of recyclables a year and serve about 55,000 households across Baldwin County and participating municipalities. The campus also includes an education center.

A materials recovery facility, often called a MRF, is a sorting plant where mixed recyclables collected from homes and businesses are separated into streams such as cardboard, paper, plastics and metals. Those materials are baled and sold to manufacturers that turn them into new products.

The plant was recognized last month by Partners for Environmental Progress, a Mobile-based environmental and business coalition, which honored SWDA with a 2026 Environmental Stewardship Award on Sept. 22. PEP said the facility is strengthening regional recycling and reducing the amount of waste sent to landfills.

The Mobile Adventure extends that education work beyond the plant, reaching students and families where they already gather.

Why education matters for a growing county

Baldwin County is one of the fastest-growing counties in Alabama, and every new household adds to the amount of waste and recyclables the county has to manage. Recycling that is sorted correctly helps conserve landfill space, while contaminated recycling can end up in the landfill anyway.

Programs aimed at children can be especially effective, since students often bring what they learn about sorting and recycling home to their families. That is one reason the trailer is built around school visits as well as community festivals.

If you go: Jubilee Festival of Arts

• What: SWDA’s Waste and Recycling Mobile Adventure at the 38th annual Jubilee Festival of Arts
• When: Saturday, Oct. 17, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 18, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (festival hours)
• Where: Lott Park, Olde Towne Daphne
• Cost: The festival is free to attend
• Next stop: North Baldwin Chamber’s Christmas Fest, Dec. 11-12, Bay Minette Downtown Square

Schools and community groups interested in booking a visit from the trailer can contact the Solid Waste Disposal Authority of Baldwin County.