Solid Waste E-News:  June 2021

• Did You Know?
• Juneteenth & July 4^th Recycling & Facilities Holiday Schedule
• Salvage Sheds – Reopening!
• Green Dining in NC
• Declare Your Independence from Waste

Any Orange County resident can recycle aluminum foil and pie pans in the separate scrap metal dumpsters at any of the 5 Waste & Recycling Centers. Aluminum foil and pie pans must be clean, dry and generally free of food. These items can NOT be recycled with the rest of your recycling in your blue cart.

Aluminum cans and other metal cans like steel cans and tins can be recycled in your blue cart. This is because aluminum and steel cans are of higher quality and can be recycled more cost-effectively. When aluminum in a thinner form, such as aluminum foil or a pie pan, enters the recycling stream the resulting product is lower quality and more difficult to recycle at the sorting facilities. Bales of mixed aluminum (cans, foil, pie pans, etc.) at recycling facilities typically have lower market value. Whereas, when aluminum foil and pans are mixed with other scrap metal at the WRCs, the scrap dealers buying mixed metal are more prepared than recycling sorting facilities to separate and prepare the mix of incoming metals for resale.

In addition to aluminum foil and pie pans, EMPTY aerosol cans, wire hangers, old license plates, aluminum siding, small non-working appliances or hand tools, bicycles, metal car and boat parts, and metal paint cans (empty) can all be recycled with scrap metal. Visit our A-Z Recycle Guide for more information on recycling scrap metal. Scrap metal is 2% of Orange County’s household waste, meaning over 500 tons (1 million lbs.) were discarded last year that could have been recycled.

Juneteenth & July 4th Recycling & Facilities Holiday Schedule

Salvage Sheds Reopening

Orange County Solid Waste Management is excited to announce the reopening of the Salvage Sheds on July 1^st, 2021.

The Salvage Sheds serve as a place for community members to drop-off their used, unwanted items for other community members to reuse. The items dropped-off at the Salvage Sheds should still be in working condition and clean. This is a great opportunity to extend the life of your products, help your community members and reduce waste sent to the landfill.

The Salvage Sheds are available at all Waste & Recycling Centers except for Bradshaw Quarry. The Sheds are open during the Waste & Recycling Center’s operating hours.

Please remember to maintain social distancing and, if not possible, wear a mask when using the sheds.

Examples of items accepted at the Salvage Sheds are:

• Small appliances (in working condition)
• Kitchenware (silverware, Tupperware, plates, mugs, cups)
• Books and magazines
• Electronics (in working condition)
• Small, non-upholstered furniture
• Small sports equipment (no large items such as treadmills, and no helmets)

Clothing and shoes can be donated in the bins next to the Salvage Shed (at Eubanks Rd. and Walnut Grove Church Rd. only). Clothing and shoe donations must be bagged, clean and odor free. You can also donate to any local thrift store during operating hours. 

Green Dining in NC

In North Carolina, there are 52 restaurants certified as ‘Sustainable Restaurants’! These restaurants are certified through the ‘Green Dining in NC’ as part of the ‘Green Travel Initiative’ by the NC Division of Environmental Assistance & Customer Service (DEACS). The Green Dining program was developed to provide recognition to restaurants that implement and follow sustainable practices at their establishment.

The application for certification asks questions regarding waste reduction & recycling, energy management & conservation, water efficiency, sustainable purchasing and other related topics. If you are interested in applying, click here to visit the Green Dining in NC website where you can find the application form. They have a separate application for Food Trucks on their website.

Restaurants can play a large role in reducing the environmental footprint of the dining industry and serve as leaders in sustainability in their community. Many of these sustainability practices also benefit the restaurant in terms of cost savings and efficiency such as switching to energy efficient equipment, composting and reducing water waste.

Reducing waste generated is another major opportunity for restaurants to save money, enhance public perception, and save landfill space in their community. Restaurants can reduce their waste by composting food scraps, implementing reuse programs, training management & staff to recycle correctly, and minimizing/eliminating single-use items. The majority of waste generated by restaurants is either compostable (food scraps) or recyclable (cans, bottles, paper, cardboard, and some plastic containers). If materials are properly sorted, the restaurant will be filling up their food waste & recycling bins and putting less trash in the dumpster, which can potentially save money on waste disposal costs.

In Orange County, 47% of the waste sent to the landfill could instead be composted. The Orange County Solid Waste Department offers a commercial food waste collection program to eligible restaurants and businesses in the County at no cost. If you are a restaurant owner or manager interested in reducing food waste, please contact our office for more information on our food waste collection program. recycling@orangecountync.gov (919) 968-2278

Declaring Your Independence from Waste

Summer barbecue’s and gatherings are around the corner! There are several ways to minimize your waste when planning or attending these fun summer get-togethers.

Food, food and more food

Have you noticed that there is typically a substantial amount of leftovers after a BBQ or potluck? If you end up with way more than what you can eat, try sending people home with a plate (or two) of food! This helps prevent leftovers from being wasted and gives your guests an extra meal for the week. If you want to go the extra mile, ask guests to bring their own containers for leftovers or make sure you have some containers (ex: take-out containers or yogurt tubs) to send home with them.

Another solution is smaller portions of food; If you are hosting a smaller get together, consider asking guests to bring smaller portions. Plus, it can save them time and money. If you are attending, bring an amount of food appropriate to the size of the gathering, or make a dish that stays good for several days.

If you end up with food scraps from cooking and left overs, compost them! If the party is not at your house, bring a kitchen top compost bin or a large container to collect the food scraps and take it home with you to compost. If you live in Orange County, you can drop off food scraps to be composted at the Eubanks Rd. or the Walnut Grove Church Rd. Waste and Recycling Centers as well as at the Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Eno River (Hillsborough) Farmers Markets!

Single Use vs. Reusable

There’s no question that reusable items are better than single-use items. It’s easier to throw all the plates and cutlery away at the end of the night than to wash them, which is why people often choose to go the single-use route. Single use items, however, can add up fast in the landfill.  If you ask one or two people to help you wash dishes, it cuts the cleaning time in half. Make sure your dishwasher is empty beforehand so you can load up the dishwasher and let it do the cleaning for you!

If the gathering is at someone’s house, ask if they’d be willing to use reusable plates, cups, and utensils instead of single-use. If they still seem hesitant, try to find another solution that doesn’t involve as much single-use plastics; Only half of the people use single-use and the other half use reusables. Or ask people to bring their own plates/cups/utensils if they’d prefer to not use single-use items.

Sort the Stuff

To ensure that guests are properly sorting trash, recycling and compostables make sure to have 3 separate bins next to each other. It may help to label the bins to avoid any confusion.

• Cans & Bottles: You may end up with a lot of aluminum cans, plastic bottles and glass bottles which are all recyclable! Make sure to empty and rinse them before recycling (this not only helps keep other recyclables clean, but keeps your bin clean and odor free). Caps and lids OK.
• Paper: Paper towels and napkins are NOT recyclable; they can be composted or thrown away. Regular paper like printer paper or newspaper can be recycled (if clean and dry). Gift wrapping paper can only be recycled if it is not glossy, shiny or glittery.
• Aluminum foil and pie pans: These are NOT recyclable with your regular mixed recycling. They can be recycled at any of the Waste and Recycling Centers in the separate scrap metal dumpsters. Make sure they are clean and free of food. Otherwise, throw them away.
• Disposable Plates, Cups & Utensils:
  • Plastic: Plastic or Styrofoam plates, cups, and utensils are NOT recyclable and must be thrown away. You can try to reuse the plates, cups and utensils and use them at your next get-together! Several people wash and save their “Red Solo™” cups and plastic utensils, and get several more uses from them. Plus, this saves you money!
  • Paper: If the plate is free of food residue/grease AND it does not have a waxy coating on it, then it can be recycled. If the plate has food residue/grease on it, and does NOT have a plastic lining, then it can be composted. If the plate has a plastic lining on it (even if it doesn’t have food residue/grease) it must be thrown away. The plastic lining looks waxy and is used to prevent food from seeping through the plate. Often times you can tell by ripping the plate and seeing if a lining is present.
  • Compostable: If the plates, cups, and utensils are Certified Compostable, they can be composted in an industrial composting facility. You can bring those materials to any of our food waste drop off locations. They are not compostable unless they specifically say BPI-Certified Compostable or labeled ASTM D6400 or D6868. If the items say ‘biodegradable’ or ‘oxo-degradable’, they are NOT compostable and should be thrown away NOT recycled.

For more information on what you can and can’t recycle, visit our website.

Can’t get enough Trash Talk? Listen to us on WHUP 104.7 low power FM (and streaming live) the second Tuesday of the month from 8:15 to 8:45 am on the 3-D News.