Solid Waste & Recycling E-News January 2022

Did You Know?
Martin Luther King Jr. Recycling and Facilities Holiday Schedule
New Year’s Resolutions from the Solid Waste Department
University Place Drop-Off Site Closure
Local and Global Recycling Markets

Orange County residents can bring their batteries to be recycled at any of the five Waste & Recycling Centers. This includes regular household batteries (dry-cell), lithium batteries, and lead-acid batteries (such as those used for cars, boats, motorcycles, and lawnmowers). It is the law that lithium batteries be separated and the terminals are taped before bringing to the Waste & Recycling Centers to be recycled. Lithium batteries must be separated from other batteries to reduce fire hazards. Visit this page for more information on recycling batteries.

It is important to recycle your batteries properly instead of tossing them in the trash or recycling bins as they can cause safety hazards at processing facilities. When batteries get punctured or crushed, it can damage the separation between the cathode and anode, causing them to catch on fire or potentially explode. Entire recycling facilities have burned down due to a battery-related fire.

New Year's Resolutions from the Solid Waste Department

With the new year comes new resolutions and this year the Solid Waste Department wanted to share some of their recycling/waste reduction-related resolutions with residents!

The Director of Solid Waste, Robert Williams, said “I will reduce my use of one-time plastics. I won’t use straws, plates, or cups if they are not compostable.”

The Research & Data Manager, Cheryl Young, has committed to “bringing my reusable bags to all stores” when she goes shopping.

The Recycling Education & Outreach Coordinator, Kyra Levau, has promised to “buy second-hand/used whenever possible”.

All of these resolutions will help reduce the amount of waste sent to the landfill and promote reuse! The best way to create and maintain sustainable habits is to be consistent. Make sure you have reusable bags and utensils accessible in various areas such as your car, attached to your keys, in your purse, and any other place that will help you remember to bring the reusable items before leaving your home.

Are you looking for some more inspiration on ways to reduce your waste and recycle right this new year? Read the list below for some ideas!

Compost your food scraps: You can bring your food scraps and other compostable materials to any of the 5 food waste drop-off sites to be composted or you can start a compost pile in your backyard.
Make a zero-waste kit: This kit can consist of various reusable items you may need when you are out and about such as utensils, straws, bags, a water bottle, coffee cup, napkin, and food storage container.
Repair items that break instead of buying new ones: By trying to fix things rather than buying new, it extends the life of the product, saves you money, and equips you with new skills.
Become familiar with Orange County’s recycling guidelines and share the info with friends and family: Once you know what can and can’t be recycled in Orange County, you can rest assured that your items will be recycled and that you’re doing your part to save landfill space in your community. You can also make sure your family and friends in the County are also recycling properly and help prevent contamination from entering the recycling stream.

University Place Drop-Off Site Closure

University Place drop-off recycling site to close Jan. 31

The University Place drop-off recycling site used by Orange County Solid Waste will no longer be available to residents after Jan. 31, 2022. The property owner is redeveloping the area and has decided not to continue with the month-to-month agreement.

Residents can use one of our other staffed recycling sites, including the Eubanks Road Waste and Recycling Center in Chapel Hill, for their recycling disposal needs now and after January 31, 2022. To find other 24-hr drop-off sites in the County, visit this page and for full-service Waste & Recycling Centers, visit this page.

All dumpsters will be removed from University Place. Anyone caught dumping recycling after the deadline may be fined for illegal dumping.

Local and Global Recycling Markets

By Gabriela Alba

Before learning about recycling at the local County level, it is important to first understand recycling from a global level. Due to our globalized society, recycling markets and policies interact with and influence one another worldwide. In recent years, China’s National Sword Policy is one of many policies that have impacted the recycling landscape in countries all around the world. If you want to learn more about recycling in Orange County from a global context and how you can help support recycling in the County, make sure to continue reading!

China’s National Sword Policy
In 2017, China announced their new, “National Sword” policy that would ban the import of 24 categories of waste and establish restrictions on acceptable contamination levels for waste. The policy went into effect on January 21, 2018, significantly reducing the amount of imported recyclable waste it would accept from other countries, including the United States. Since China was the largest importer of waste in the world, taking in almost half of the world’s waste since 1992, for the past few decades, the ban sent a shock wave through the global economy. Without being able to sell their waste to China, many municipalities and processing facilities in the United States had to identify new markets for recyclable materials or face discarding or incinerating their waste.

Recycling in Orange County
Although China’s ban has impacted the recycling market in the United States over the last few years, Orange County has been able to continue to accept recyclable materials and has relied on the markets in the Southeast US to ensure that materials are recycled into new products. After residents place recyclable materials into the blue recycling carts, the materials are sent to a materials recovery facility (MRF) in Morrisville. The materials are sorted and then baled to be sold to various processors that use recyclable materials, including plastics, metal, paper, cardboard, and glass, and recycle them into new, usable products. Residents of Orange County can rest assured that if they properly recycle their materials in the blue cart, they will be recycled into new products! If you would like to learn more about where your recycling goes, check out this page.

Importance of Recycling and Ways to Help
Recycling is important because it has numerous social and environmental benefits! According to the Environmental Protection Agency, recycling materials is beneficial because it diverts waste away from landfills or incinerators, conserves natural resources, saves energy, prevents pollution, and generates jobs. As a resident, there are many ways you can support the local, recycling market. Read the list below to learn how to support Orange County’s recycling programs.

Educate yourself about recycling. Check out your resources here to learn about which materials are accepted and recycled in Orange County.
Try to avoid wishful recycling, the practice of placing a non-recyclable material in a recycling bin with the hope that it will be recycled. Since wishful recycling leads to contamination and safety issues at sorting facilities, check here to see if a material is recyclable before placing it in a blue cart.
Keep recycling clean. Food, oil, and grease can contaminate recycling. Before placing recyclable materials into the recycling bin, clean and rinse the materials to make sure it is free of food and residue.
Recycle more! Aside from using your blue cart to recycle, click here to learn about other items you can recycle through specialty recycling programs.

Even when faced with a radically changing global recycling landscape and the pandemic, Orange County Solid Waste Management Department has worked hard to continue to provide services that collect and manage recycling. We hope that you will contribute to these efforts to promote recycling in the County by staying proactive and educated about recycling!

Can't Get Enough Trash Talk?

Listen to OC Solid Waste Representatives the second Tuesday of each month from 8:15 am to 8:45 am on the ‘3-D News’ on local radio WHUP 104.7 FM, over the air and streaming online. Visit this link to listen online. If you missed the show, you can listen online since shows are archived for a month after airing.