Solid Waste & Recycling E-Newsletter |
- Did You Know?
- Save the Dates: Spring Shred-A-Thons
- Sustainable Valentine's Day
- Food Waste Recap
- What’s in the Cart?
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Save the Dates: Spring Shred-A-Thons |
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Save the dates! The Spring Shred-A-Thons will be taking place in a few short months.
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Chapel Hill: Saturday, April 12, 2025 from 10am-2pm (or until capacity is met) at the Eubanks Rd. Park and Ride Lot (1768 Eubanks Rd, Chapel Hill 27516)
- Hillsborough: Wednesday, April 30, 2025 from 10am-2pm (or until capacity is met) at the Walnut Grove Church Rd. Waste & Recycling Center (3605 Walnut Grove Church Rd, Hillsborough, NC 27278)
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For more information about the events and accepted materials, visit the calendar on the Solid Waste website.
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Sustainable Valentine's Day |
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Show your community love by celebrating Valentine's Day sustainably. Here are some tips to keep your holiday low waste:
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Gifts: Choose experiences or gift certificates to local businesses rather than novelty plushies and heart-shaped goodies.
- Cards: Make your own holiday card or purchase one that is 100% recyclable. Avoid cards that contain non-recyclable materials such as metallic, glitter or fabric.
- Flowers: Gift plants that can be treasured for years instead of cut flowers.
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Packaging: Wrap gifts in recyclable brown paper or newspaper that can be decorated in a unique and creative way.
- Sweets: Make homemade treats rather than purchasing candy packaged in wrappers and packaging that needs to be thrown in the trash.
- Meals: Cook together using locally sourced ingredients. Don't forget to compost the food scraps!
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The Food Waste Drop-Off sites and Commercial Food Waste Diversion program have been an integral part of the Orange County Solid Waste Management program. Food waste collection and diversion reduces landfill waste and greenhouse gas emissions as well as creates compost, which is a valuable resource for soil and plant quality.
In 2024, Orange County diverted over 1,189,899 pounds of food waste through the drop-off sites and commercial collection programs, an 11% increase from 2023 and a 27% increase from 2022. The amount of food waste diverted in 2024 is equivalent to avoiding 3,093,712 pounds of CO2 production, or 123,749 pounds of methane production. Methane is 28 times more potent than CO2 at trapping heat in the atmosphere and is the second-most abundant greenhouse gas. In the United States, roughly 24% of landfilled waste is food waste. Diverting food waste from landfills to create compost is one of the best ways to mitigate methane production and cut down on greenhouse gas emissions.
There are many ways to contribute to reducing the amount of food waste and other compostable materials from being landfilled. The first is by cutting down on the amount of food waste produced to begin with, by buying only what you need and reusing scraps where you can, like in soups and broths. Any food waste that is produced can be taken to any of Orange County’s six residential food waste drop-off sites, located at select Waste & Recycling Centers and county Farmer’s Markets. Restaurants, schools, and other organizations that produce food waste may be eligible to join the Commercial Food Waste Diversion program, sponsored by Orange County. For more information about food waste collection and how to join the Commercial Food Waste Diversion Program, please our website or contact our office at recycling@orangecountync.gov
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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. The program’s goal is to improve the overall quality and quantity of recyclables collected from households around the County. Residents that recycle properly are awarded a star sticker. Residents also receive feedback on unaccepted items found in their recycling cart via a letter or ‘Oops’ tag attached to their cart. For more information on the Recycling Stars Program, please visit our website.
Some contaminants that inspectors have found recently:
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- Shredded paper is not recyclable, as it is too small to make it through the sorting process. Please compost it or throw it in the trash.
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Waste reduction tip: Bring your confidential documents to one of Orange County's upcoming Shred-A-Thons, where it gets shredded and recycled into other paper products.
- Candles are not recyclable in Orange County and should be thrown in the trash.
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Waste reduction tip: Remove the wax and reuse the jars for storage or to make new candles.
- Spiral notebooks are not accepted in single-stream/mixed recycling and the binding is a tangler that can damage facility equipment. The paper can be separated from the binding and put in your curbside recycling cart. The metal binding can be taken to the Metal Drop-Off bins at the Waste & Recycling Centers.
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Shoes are not accepted in single-stream/mixed recycling and should be taken to the Clothes/Shoes Drop-Off bins at the Eubanks Rd, Walnut Grove Church Rd, and High Rock Rd. Waste & Recycling Centers.
- Pots and pans are not accepted in single-stream/mixed recycling.
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Waste reduction tip: If in working condition, consider donating pots and pans to the Salvage Sheds or local donation centers. If broken, pots and pans that DO NOT contain Teflon and ARE NOT non-stick can be recycled with metal drop-off. Teflon coated pans and nonstick pans contain PFAS (hazardous materials) and should be returned to the manufacturer. Do NOT dispose of Teflon pans in metal drop-off.
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Become a Better Recycler! |
Download our free app called Orange County NC Recycles in the Apple or Google Play Store where you can:
• Use the A-Z guide to find out the right way to dispose of your materials
• View the recycling collection calendar and receive reminders
• Learn about the Waste & Recycling Centers
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Follow Us on Social Media |
At Orange County NC Solid Waste on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
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Can't Get Enough Trash Talk? |
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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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1207 Eubanks Rd | Chapel Hill, NC 27516 US
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