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Collection Statistics

Orange County Landfill Tons Managed 2009-2010

Type of Material Tons Percent
Material Buried    
Municipal Solid Waste

47,167

85%

Construction and Demolition Waste

7,741

14%

(water plant) sludge

0

0

Stumps and inert debris

542

1%

Mobile Homes

64

<1%

Total Buried

100%

Recovered and Recycled at Landfill

55,514

 
Vegetative Waste

6,783

67%

White Goods

254

3%

Tires

1,305

13%

Scrap Metal

602

6%

Clean Wood

1,153

11%

Total Recovered from landfill

10,096

100%

Total Managed at Landfill

65,610

 

Waste Generated by Origin 2009-2010
(includes all materials brought to Orange County Landfill

Origin Tons Percent
Orange County

12,850

20%
Town of Carrboro

7,634

11%
Town of Chapel Hill

18,405

28%
Town of Hillsborough

2,055

3%
UNC

138

<1
UNC Hospital (UNC Hosp trucks only)*

22

<1
Privately hauled

24,729

38%
Total

65,623

100%

*Most waste on campus and from hospital hauled by private haulers.

Discrepancy between total managed by landfill and total generated by origin is a result of rounding errors.

2009-2010 Tons of materials managed by Orange Community Recycling (OCR) Division

Type of Material Recycled Tons Percent
All Paper (includes newspaper, phonebooks, glossy magazines, and mixed paper)

6.534

38%

Commingled Bottles, Cans and Jars

6,128

35%

Toxics Reduction Improvement Program (TRIP) (includes hazardous waste, motor oil, filters, batteries and electronics)

741

4%

Corrugated Cardboard

1,491

9%

Rigid Non-bottle #2 and #5 Plastics

64

<1%

Food Waste and Animal Bedding

2,357

14%

Total recycled by OCR

17,315

100%

Statistics include collection of materials from
Drop-off locations and Commercial Recycling Program

Tonnage Recycled by Orange Community Recycling Programs 2009-2010

Program Tons Percent
Urban Curbside

4,121

27%

Rural Curb

1,818

11%

Multifamily

1,301

8%

Drop off

5,090

30%

Toxics Reduction Improvement Program (TRIP)

741

4%

Commercial recycling

873

6%

Commercial Food Waste Recycling

2,357

14%

Government Facilities Recycling

129

1%

Orange County Schools

       54

<1%
Total

16,504

100%

Difference in tonnage collected by program and tonnage of recyclables collected by material (~5%) reflects the amount of discards (contamination) separated from recyclables incoming before they are sold to recycling markets.

Recycling by Others 2009-2010 (Not Orange County Solid Waste Department)

Program Tons Percent
Orange County and Chapel Hill/Carrboro Public Schools

309

7%

UNC (does not include coal ash)

3,119

67%

Other private recycling (est)

1,200

26%

Total

4,628

100%

These tons are estimated based on data furnished by others.

Waste Sort Data 2010

In April of 2010, Orange County conducted its fifth waste composition study since 1990. The latest study showed the amount of recyclable material being thrown out has declined 31% in the residential sector, 22% in the commercial sector and 11% in the multifamily sector since the previous waste sort in 2005.  Of the 47,300 tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) landfilled last year, more than 10,400 tons are readily recyclable cans, bottles and paper. Another 3,800 tons are materials that could be recycled at all dropoff sites such as rigid plastic, or recycled just at the landfill or convenience centers such as clean wood, scrap metal and electronics.  Capturing half of this could push the County’s waste reduction rate close to 58%. The County has conducted a waste sort every five years to help focus its solid waste planning work and see how well recycling programs are working in the various sectors. The time series data (in pdf file format), from these sectors and annual data by geographic sector can be accessed on clicking the links below.

Waste Sort Data 2005

In April of 2005, Orange County conducted a waste composition study that showed the amount of recyclable material being thrown out has declined 11% since the last waste sort was conducted in 2000. Of the 57,000 tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) landfilled, more than 22,000 are readily recyclable, down from 24,900 five years ago.

The County has conducted a waste sort every five years since 1990 to help focus its solid waste planning work and see how well recycling programs are working in the various sectors. The data (in pdf file format), from these sectors can be accessed on clicking the links below.