Solid Waste & Recycling E-News: December 2023

Recycling Truck Fire
Did You Know?
Solid Waste Programs Fee Assistance Program
Holiday Recycling & Facilities Schedules
Our Newsletter is Getting a New Look!
Where is Orange County on the Road to Zero Waste?
Orange County Seeking Input on Strategic Plan Priorities and Strategies
What’s in the Cart?

Recycling Truck Fire

An Orange County recycling truck caught fire while collecting curbside recycling on December 7^th, 2023. The apparent cause of the fire was a torch lighter, pictured here, that was disposed of in a curbside recycling cart and found at the ignition point in the truck. Through the quick actions of the driver to offload the material on the side of the road and extinguish the fire, no people or property were hurt.

Torches, lighters, and other items that contain or once contained lighter fluids and other highly flammable fluids, such as butane and propane, are NEVER accepted in single-stream recycling and pose significant danger to people and property.

If such devices or containers are completely empty, place them in the garbage. If they still contain fuel or you are unsure if the item is empty, to prevent fires, take them to one of the County’s Household Hazardous Waste drop-offs.

How to Empty a Disposable Lighter?

To empty it, hold it in a vertically upright position and depress the filler valve (located at the bottom of lighter) with a ball-pen or screwdriver.
Continue applying pressure on the valve until the hissing sound stops, making sure no gas is left in the lighter.

Solid Waste Programs Fee Assistance Program - 2023 Deadline

All applications and supporting documents to obtain Solid Waste Programs Fee Assistance must be received in the Orange County Tax Office before December 31, 2023 to receive assistance on 2023 tax bills.

Please click here to download The Solid Waste Programs Fee Assistance Application on the Tax Administration webpage. See below for more information on the Solid Waste Programs Fee and Assistance Program.

What is the Solid Waste Programs Fee?

Each improved property (property upon which a residential, commercial, or other building has been built) in Orange County is assessed an annual Solid Waste Programs Fee (SWPF) to fund recycling, waste management, and waste reduction services offered by Orange County. A flat fee is applied to all improved properties in the County. The current fee is $142.00 per year.

For more information on the Solid Waste Programs Fee, please visit the Solid Waste Programs Fee webpage.

What is the Solid Waste Programs Fee Assistance Program?

Individuals may be eligible for Solid Waste Programs Fee (SWPF) Assistance. For regular Solid Waste Programs Fee Assistance, the basic requirements for 2023 are an income less than or equal to $33,800 and the individual must own and live in the residence. To assess eligibility, citizens must complete and submit the Solid Waste Programs Fee Assistance Application to the Tax Administration Office and provide the financial documentation as stated in the form.

Property owners who meet income requirements for Homestead Exclusion (HE) are also eligible for relief from the SWPF. Applicants applying for Homestead Exclusion must complete the Solid Waste Programs Fee Application for HE Assistance Application.

Please contact the Tax Administration Department for questions on how to apply for assistance.

Holiday Recycling & Facilities Schedules

Our Newsletter is Getting a New Look!

Orange County Solid Waste, along with other County departments, are switching to a new E-Newsletter platform called Emma to give our newsletter an enhanced look! All current subscribers will be transferred to Emma and will receive the new monthly E-Newsletter as follows:

Current subscribers will receive both the current and the new Solid Waste & Recycling E-Newsletter in January 2024.

If you do not receive the new version on the same day that you receive the current version, please check your spam folder for the new newsletter and change your email settings to allow emails from the sender.
If you do not receive the new newsletter in your inbox or spam folder, please re-subscribe to the E-Newsletter on our website.

Subscribers will only receive the new E-Newsletter in February 2024.

If you do not receive the new version, please check your spam folder for the newsletter and change your email settings to allow emails from the sender.
If you do not receive the new newsletter in your inbox or spam folder, please re-subscribe to the E-Newsletter on our website.

Where is Orange County on the Road to Zero Waste?

The Solid Waste Advisory Group (SWAG) met on November 28^th, 2023, to discuss the “Road to Zero Waste” Solid Waste Master Plan. Each SWAG member voted on their favored choice of the 3 scenarios delineated in the Master Plan Draft Proposal. The majority vote was Scenario 3, which includes new program and facility recommendations, including a single-stream recycling facility, additional employees, and expansion of the organics/food waste drop-off program.

The Solid Waste Master Plan proposed scenarios will be presented to the Board of County Commissioners in January 2024.

County Seeking Input on Strategic Plan Priorities and Strategies

The Orange County Board of Commissioners will receive and adopt in January a strategic plan that addresses long-term strategies for community health, transportation, education, economic development, protecting the environment and affordable housing.

The county’s consultant, BerryDunn, has created a community engagement webpage that lays out strategic plan goals, objectives and performance measures and provides community members an opportunity to provide feedback on the draft plan.

The draft plan is available for viewing on the website (www.orangecountync.gov/OCNCplan), which also includes a short survey and an ideas wall to share thoughts about how the Board of Commissioners should prioritize the six areas.

“This plan’s success depends on input from our community members, people who know and love Orange County and have a vested interest in making it an even better place,” said Orange County Chair Jamezetta Bedford.

The website will remain open for feedback through Dec. 29, 2023.

What’s in the Cart? Holiday Edition

A monthly review of the most common and obscure findings in recycling carts.

As part of the Recycling Stars Program, solid waste staff evaluate curbside recycling carts to educate residents on proper recycling. Some contaminants that inspectors have found:

String lights and candles (both electronic and wax) should never be recycled. String lights are a tangler; they can get caught in and damage facility equipment.
1. Lights and candles may also contain lithium batteries, which are a fire hazard. Bring lithium batteries to one of the Waste & Recycling Centers and dispose of them in the Lithium-Batteries container. Batteries must be taped before being brought to the Waste & Recycling Centers to prevent fires. If you cannot remove batteries from the device, please dispose of the entire device in Electronics drop-off.
2. Please reuse or donate items in working condition.
Ribbons and bows are not recyclable. Ribbons are a tangle; they can get caught in and damage facility equipment. Please throw away these items or consider swapping single-use materials for fabric so they can be reused.
Greeting cards with glitter, adornments, ribbons, and other non-paper materials cannot be recycled. Please throw these items away. 100% paper cards are recyclable.
Garland, whether artificial or made of plants, cannot be recycled. Please reuse or donate artificial garland. Garland made of plants can be disposed of in your yard waste cart or brought to one of the Waste & Recycling Centers, where it will be processed into mulch!
Not all gift bags can be recycled. Gift bags that are made of plastic or fabric, have fabric or plastic handles, or are adorned with plastic, glitter, foil, or fabric items cannot be recycled. Please reuse or donate these items. Gift bags made of paper with paper handles are recyclable.

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.

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