ATHENS COUNTY, Ohio — The Southeast Ohio Recycling Terminal and the Athens-Hocking Solid Waste District will operate under a shared director following a decision by the SORT board on May 11.
The move comes as SORT — a council of governments formed to take over the local recycling and waste hauling nonprofit Athens-Hocking Recycling Centers — completes its merger into the solid waste district, overseen by county commissioners from Athens and Hocking counties.
Athens-Hocking Solid Waste District Director Jane Forrest Redfern said the merger, in progress since November, 2025, is now mainly finished. Only some logistical aspects have yet to be completed, such as a new joint website.
Following Monday’s decision by the SORT board, Forrest Redfern will now lead both organizations.
Crissa Cummings resigned as SORT’s executive director and from her position as the waste district’s deputy director. Cummings said her resignation is effective May 15. Cummings said the merger was part of her decision to step back.
“She had a very stressful few years,” Forrest Redfern said of Cummings. “She’s done an incredible job over the last years saving the recycling center, but then merging into us.”
The future of the recycling center was thrown into question when it lost its largest contract, with the city of Athens, in 2023.
Cummings took over as the recycling center’s executive director in January 2024, according to her LinkedIn, overseeing the organization’s rocky transition toward stability.
SORT formed in May 2024 and absorbed the recycling center’s operations in October 2024. The recycling center hoped that operating as a council of governments would allow Athens to switch its contract back over. That didn’t happen, and coupled with changes in the commodity market, it was unclear if SORT could survive.
The merger, however, will allow the two organizations to remain cash-positive as a single entity.
“Things are definitely more financially stable with the two entities combined, and so that’s super exciting,” Cummings said.
Forrest Redfern said that despite growing pains associated with the logistics of the merger and challenges due to higher gas prices, operating as a combined entity has been successful.
Forrest Redfern mentioned new contracts the organization has secured with Ohio University and the city of Nelsonville, expanded staff to support recycling, and the organization’s compost program, which she said has been “doing extraordinarily well.”
Forrest Redfern added that the stability has allowed Cummings to look ahead and “move forward in a new direction.” Cummings said she isn’t yet sure what’s next for her.
SORT will continue as an independent entity until it completes a grant-funded composting study. After that, the council of governments will close, Forrest Redfern said.
