YORK, Pa. (WHTM) — A recycling center in York County has now officially reopened after a fire shut them down a year ago.

The Penn Waste recycling facility in Manchester, York County. will soon be fully operational again, after a ‘catastrophic fire’ back in March 2022 damaged the facility and shut them down.

“It was a long year for our team members at our recycling facility,” Mark Pergolese, Division Vice President for Penn Waste said. “Our operations were brought to a halt, but we were fortunate and thankful that there were no physical injuries from the fire. Our workers, local vendor contacts, and members of our parent company, Waste Connections, were here the next day asking how they could help.”

According to Penn Waste, on the evening of March 8, 2022, more than 12 local fire departments responded to the fire at their facility. As a result of the fire, nearly all of the equipment and electrical controls throughout the 96,000-square-foot single-stream recycling facility were destroyed.

It was later determined that the fire was likely caused by a rechargeable battery.

“This really serves as a cautionary tale regarding battery safety,” Pergolese stated. “The fire we experienced was at our recycling facility but these fires can happen anywhere when rechargeable batteries and products containing them are not disposed of properly– in your home, on your property, in our trucks, and at processing facilities.”

Following the fire, Penn Waste didn’t just rebuild the recycling facility, but they upgraded the facility significantly by adding new cutting-edge technology and equipment, state-of-the-art safety features (fire detection and suppression systems), and improved efficiencies in the materials recovery process.

According to Pergolese, Penn Waste in Manchester will also be implementing greater public education regarding rechargeable batteries and the dangers that are associated with them.

“We really need the public’s help and the help of legislators, battery producers, and the manufacturers of products containing rechargeable batteries, to find better, easily accessible, and safer options for disposing of rechargeable batteries,” Pergolese added.

Penn Waste will be hosting an invite-only grand-reopening event on Tuesday, April 25.

According to Penn Waste, they have been offering commercial waste removal and recycling services to South-Central Pa. since 2000. Today, they service over 190,000 customers across 67 municipalities in York, Lancaster, Adams, Dauphin, Cumberland, and Perry counties.