CALDWELL COUNTY, NC (December 31, 2018) — Earlier this year the state’s Recycling and Materials Management Section from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality released its recycling numbers for all 100 counties and municipalities. Caldwell County was ranked 64 out of 100.
Currently Cajah’s Mountain, Cedar Rock, Gamewell, Granite Falls and Sawmills offer curbside recycling. Hudson, Lenoir and Rhodhiss do not. Lenoir does have a city drop-off site and has a partnership with a personal subscription recycling service. The state does not receive any data about the amount of recycling collected by those subscription accounts.
It is apparent that Caldwell County’s recycling numbers are greatly affected by the fact that Hudson, Lenoir and Rhodhiss do not offer curbside recycling. According to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) Lenoir is one of the largest municipalities in the state that does not operate a curbside recycling program.
Caldwell County could be doing much better when it comes to recycling and with participation from the City of Lenoir and the Town of Hudson by offering curbside recycling, Caldwell County would greatly improve its recycling numbers.
There is also quite a discrepancy between Catawba County, Watauga County, Alexander County, Burke County and Caldwell County in state recycling numbers and rankings. Below are the Recycling Number for FY2016-2017.
Catawba County #2 482.55 lbs. per person/per year
Watauga County #12 201.22 lbs. per person/per year
Alexander County #14 192.29 lbs. per person/per year
Caldwell County #64 75.70 lbs. per person/per year
Burke County #83 47.91 lbs. per person/per year
There are many benefits of city or town-sponsored recycling programs according to Sandy Skolochenko of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ):
* Ideally, every household is automatically included in the program making it convenient to participate. So not only would recycling data be captured in the statewide numbers, but we would expect to see an overall increase in recycling in the area.
* All residents are participating in the same program, allowing the city/town to educate. It’s very important that residents know what goes in the recycling bin and what stays out. The state offers general and customized education for communities to use.
* Collection is more efficient because you have one truck serving a neighborhood rather than multiple trucks from different companies on different days.
North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Recycling Website
Per Capita Recycling data release 2017
All Caldwell County residents can take recyclables to one of Caldwell County’s nine drop-off sites.
Buffalo Cove Convenience Site
5645 Buffalo Cove Road
Lenoir, NC 28645
(828)754-1398
Open: Wednesday 7:00 am – 6:00 pm
Saturday 7:00 am – 3:00 pm
Cheraw Convenience Site
2756 Cheraw Road
Lenoir, NC 28645
(828)754-1171
Open: Monday-Friday 7:00 am – 6:00 pm
Saturday 7:00 am – 3:00 pm
Collettsville Convenience Center
5469 Adako Rd.
Lenoir, NC 28645
(828)758-7991
Open: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 7:00 am – 6:00 pm
Saturday 7:00 am – 3:00 pm
Connelly Springs Convenience Site
2886 Connelly Spring Rd
Lenoir, NC 28645
(828)728-3532
Open: Monday-Friday 7:00 am – 6:00 pm
Saturday 7:00 am – 3:00 pm
Coy Miller Convenience Site
3351 Coy Miller Rd
Lenoir, NC 28645
(828)757-0532
Open: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 7:00 am – 6:00 pm
Saturday 7:00 am – 3:00 pm
Dug Hill Convenience Site
4262 Dug Hill
Lenoir, NC 28645
(828) 757-0378
Open: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 7:00 am – 6:00 pm
Saturday 7:00 am – 3:00 pm
Grace Chapel Convenience Site
4904 Grace Chapel Rd
Granite Falls, NC 28630
(828)396-1286
Open: Monday-Friday 7:00 am – 6:00 pm
Saturday 7:00 am – 3:00 pm
Morris Creek Convenience Site
1350 Morris Creek Rd
Lenoir, NC 28645
(828)758-0213
Open: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 7:00 am – 6:00 pm
Saturday 7:00 am – 3:00 pm
Mt. Herman Convenience Site
1160 Drag Strip Rd
Hudson, NC 28638
(828)728-2866
Open: Monday-Friday 7:00 am – 6:00 pm
Saturday 7:00 am – 3:00 pm
City of Lenoir residents can take recyclables to its drop-off site which is located at 1121 Pennton Ave SW.
Things that are accepted at convenience centers
Any household garbage
Old furniture
Used appliances
Mattresses
Recyclables
Newsprint or magazines
Clear, green and brown glass
Aluminum or steel cans
Plastic drink or milk containers
Used motor oil
Used automotive batteries
Corrugated cardboard (except at dug hill and buffalo site)
Things not accepted
Tires-must go to landfill
Yard waste (trees limbs or brush)-landfill
Construction or destruction materials-landfill
Old paint must be dried up to be accepted
No commercial or industrial waste is accepted at recycling centers
No out of county waste is accepted
Thank You to Laura Leonard and Sandy Skolochenko of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) for all their gracious information that they provided.