Rep. Barry Moore, R-Enterprise, co-sponsored a bill to hobble municipal recycling programs his business competes with.

A bill that would have prohibited local governments from offering recycling to commercial and government customers has been shelved, for the time being. According to the bills opponents, including the Association of County Commissions of Alabama, it would have made most local recycling programs unsustainable.

One of the bill’s co-sponsors, Rep. Barry Moore, R-Enterprise, told the Times Daily that private enterprise cannot compete with government recycling programs. Moore should know, he owns a waste hauling business in Coffee County.

“I’ve been fighting my county since 2003 because they are in the (waste hauling) business tax free.

“In a capitalistic society, there are some things government should not do when they are competing with private enterprise,” he said.

Asked if he felt there was a conflict of interest in his co-sponsorship of the bill, Moore said he cleared it with the Ethics Commission.