Mecklenburg, Catawba lead NC recycling efforts

New state report finds Catawba County soars above rest of state in per-capita effort

Depending upon how you stack the numbers, both Mecklenburg and Catawba counties can claim they are tops among 100 NC counties in waste recycling.

Data released this week by the N.C. Department of Environment and natural Resources show that Mecklenburg County recycled nearly 90,000 tons of wastes in 2011, not including tires, yard waste and some specialty wastes.

That figure is 45 percent higher than total wastes recycling in the No. 2 largest county down east, Wake (home to Raleigh).

How does Catawba County come out on top, then? By counting the amount of recycled material per person. Sliced up that way, the trash count shows Catawba recycling more than one-third ton of waste per person – or more than triple Mecklenburg’s per-person total of 194 pounds. 

Recycling's up on several fronts

CLICK to view Mecklenburg guide

Regardless of which county you rank as No. 1, the good news, say state officials, is that recycling continues to rise across North Carolina despite the economic slowdown’s impact on demand for recycled materials.

“Plastic bottle recovery in particular has experienced significant growth since the state’s disposal ban became effective on Oct. 1, 2009, increasing 22 percent in FY 2009-10 and 23.4 percent in FY 2010-11,” the report said.

Curbside recycling programs grew for the third straight year, from 214 in 2009 to 283 last year.

Catawba County officials credit their recycling success on strong partnerships among various local governments and businesses. Catawba County also created the first curbside pickup program in the state.

The state report also praises the Catawba County Regional EcoComplex and Resource Recovery Facility, “an innovative and interactive network of companies and operations that tries to match waste streams with the need for materials in the manufacturing of new products and energy sources.” The on-site use of discarded materials in turn helps Catawba County achieve higher rates of recycling, the state report said.

Local efforts to reduce non-recyclable waste, too

ReVenture Park, in the Catawba River District, plans to help the region deal with non-recyclable wastes by turning them into energy.

The anchor project of ReVenture Park is a Waste To Energy facility that will take non-recyclable paper fiber and organic matter, shred it into fuel and heat it to produce a gas similar to natural gas. This gas is created through a gasification technology, not incineration. The gas is then used to create steam that powers a turbine to create electricity. This process exceeds the most stringent EPA air quality standards. The only byproduct, says ReVenture Park, is an inert ash that has beneficial uses.

 

Get all the stats

CLICK to read the report including county by county results.

CLICK for recycling tips.