Solid Waste E-News September 2021

Did You Know?
Compost-A-Thons
Closing the Lid: A Recap of This Summer’s Apartment Bag Recycling Program
Composting Report – Food Waste Diversion in OC

Residents can NOT recycle aerosol cans in their blue recycling cart. Aerosol cans that end up in the recycling facility can be a danger to workers. If the can makes it to a baler, a machine used to compress recyclables together, and has not been punctured it will explode and can cause serious injury to workers. The can may have a recycling symbol on it but that does NOT mean it is recyclable in single stream recycling. Always check your local recycling program to determine what is or isn’t recyclable – do not only rely on recycling symbols to determine recyclability.

If you would like to recycle your aerosol cans, please take empty aerosol cans to scrap metal at the Waste and Recycling Centers to be recycled. If the can is not empty, please take it to household hazardous waste facility at the Eubanks Rd. or Walnut Grove Church Rd. Waste & Recycling Centers.

Compost-A-Thon

Join the Orange County Compost-A-Thon in its FREE virtual and in-person events, with chances to win prizes.

Bo Chi, a Chapel Hill native and Boy Scout of the Chapel Hill based Troop 39, is passionate about solving environmental issues through community based initiatives. After Bo’s work on ‘GoCompost’, a mobile app to inform and motivate residents to compost, he had another idea to organize a community engagement campaign focused around local composting efforts as his Eagle Project. An Eagle Project is a community service project required to complete the Eagle Rank. With support from his Troop leaders and Orange County Solid Waste, the Compost-A-Thon is underway on its mission to divert food waste from landfills.

Food waste is the No. 1 contributor to US landfills, and it has surged during the pandemic. When food waste is sent to the landfill it produces methane, a greenhouse gas which is more harmful and powerful than CO2. On the other hand, when food waste is composted it is broken down into a nutrient-rich soil amendment that can be used to help grow more food! Residents can do their part in saving landfill space and helping build a sustainable, healthy community by composting.

Orange County has 5 food waste drop-off sites:

Carrboro Farmers Market
Chapel Hill Farmers Market
Eno River Farmers Market
Eubanks Rd Waste & Recycling Center*
Walnut Grove Church Rd Waste & Recycling Center*

*must be an Orange County resident to use the Waste & Recycling Centers

Click here for hours and locations of the drop-off sites.

The Compost-A-Thon offers fun, as well as key information, for everyone, regardless of experience or skill, to share/practice composting knowledge and to take action. Residents can sign up online and make a positive impact daily with just a few simple steps:

Collect - separate your food waste from non-compostable materials.
Log - report your efforts through an online form, and your efforts will be counted in the community tally.
Compost - choose to drop off food waste at any of the collection sites or compost at home.

The weight of all food waste collected during the campaign will be calculated, data will be analyzed to measure the impact, and results will be announced to celebrate the community’s collective efforts! In addition, please help spread the word. Share the info with families, friends, neighbors, schools, and through your channels such as social media.

SAVE THE DATES!
Join us in the “Meet the Composters” events for fun, demo, games, prizes & more. COVID safety protocol will be in place.
SEP 11, 9am-12pm, Eno River Farmers Market
SEPT 18, 9am-12pm Chapel Hill Farmers Market
Come drop off your food waste too!

Learn more and sign up through www.compostathon.org.

Closing the Lid: A Recap of This Summer’s Apartment Bag Recycling Program

By Gabriela Alba

This summer, Orange County Solid Waste Department took on the third iteration of its Apartment Bag Recycling Program! According to Orange County’s Waste Composition Study, over 25% of what is put in the trash bins at apartments can be recycled and 11% of what is put in the recycling carts is not recyclable. This program sought to bridge the information gap and minimize inconveniences (e.g. transporting recyclable waste to recycling sites outside) that have led residents to discard their materials in the wrong waste bin. With a goal of improving the quantity and quality of materials recycled at apartment complexes, the County distributed recycling totes, installed signs, and updated recycling cart stickers at apartment complexes in Orange County.

The Program
From June 2021 through August 2021, six apartment complexes in the Chapel Hill and Carrboro area participated in the apartment bag recycling program. Through this program, reusable washable tote bags were given to residents so that they would have a convenient and clean way to both store and transport their recyclable items to the blue recycling carts at their complex. By the end of August 2021, over 700 apartment bags were distributed door-to-door to all of the residents. Recycling bin sites at participating complexes were also outfitted with new, legible informational stickers and a recycle right sign.

Results

Recycling data was collected before and after bag distribution to determine the impact of the program. According to the recycling evaluations conducted at the recycling sites, about half of the apartment complexes in the program experienced a decrease in recycling contamination rates. This means that fewer contaminants, including SOLO cups, Styrofoam egg cartons, plastic packaging, etc., were found in blue recycling carts after the bag distribution! Based on the first two rounds of the program, we anticipated improvement in the recycling quality.

In addition to improved recycling quality, the program also led to a decrease in the use of disposable plastic bags and trash bags to store and transport waste. Although it is not permitted, many residents were collecting their recyclables in plastic bags and then placing the bags into the blue recycling carts. Plastic bags are considered ‘tanglers’ in the recycling process and should never be placed in recycling carts. After the conclusion of the program, four out of the six participating complexes experienced a 30% decrease in the use of plastic bags to store recycling. This indicates that the apartment tote bags serve as a convenient alternative to collect and transport recyclable items.

Takeaways
As a resident in Orange County, what can you do to support this program’s efforts to improve recycling? Even if you aren’t a resident at one of our participating complexes, you can advance your own household or complex's recycling efforts by recycling right! Read the list below to learn about the most common contaminants found in blue recycling carts during the course of the program.

Plastic Containers: Black plastic food containers, microwavable food containers, etc.
Plastic wrapping: plastic wrap on cases of water bottles/soda, food wrappers
Disposable cups: plastic and paper coffee cups, plastic cups from restaurants/fast-food restaurants, compostable cups
Meat containers with shrinkwrap: Plastic/styrofoam containers that store meat
Aluminum foil
Plastic packaging/encasing: Plastic packaging that surrounds food, hygiene items, etc.
Plastic bags: retail and carryout plastic bags

If you would like to read more information about what can be recycled in the blue recycling carts, check out our recycle right resources here.

Composting Report - Food Waste Diversion in OC

The composting program in Orange County has diverted 462 tons (924,110 lbs) of food waste from the landfill over the last year! The program includes restaurants, businesses, and drop-off locations (including 3 farmer’s markets).
By composting rather than landfilling, the Orange County community avoided 407 metric tons of CO2 emissions from being released into the atmosphere. This is equivalent to taking 1,054 cars off the road for an entire year.

The County offers a commercial food waste collection program to eligible restaurants and businesses at no cost to them. There are currently about 50 restaurants and businesses on the program such as flower shops, recovery centers, and local café’s. The continued efforts to reduce waste by those on the program during these difficult times are greatly appreciated! If you are a restaurant/business owner interested in joining the program, email recycling@orangecountync.gov to learn more.

Restaurants, businesses, and community members working together can help Orange County reduce its carbon footprint, save landfill space, create jobs, and produce healthier soil in North Carolina. Healthier soil enables more reliable local food production contributing to a more secure food system. Keep on composting!

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.