How to Recycle in Rutherford County

With curbside pick-up in most of our towns and 10 Convenience Centers scattered outside of city limits, it is easy for all of Rutherford County’s residents to recycle. Sometimes, we just need a little know-how.

If you live in the city. The towns of Ellenboro, Forest City, Ruth and Rutherfordton all have curbside pickup. Businesses and residents are provided a recycling bin that can hold paper, glass bottles and jars, plastic, and aluminum - there is no need to sort your recycling.  Cardboard boxes can be flattened and collected as well.  The bins are placed on the curb on trash day (except in Rutherfordton, see above); a single household can have multiple bins.  

Residents of Lake Lure can subscribe to a curb-side service for $5 per month (plus a small one-time fee for the recycle bins) by contacting Town Hall 828-625-9983. Recycling is mandatory in Chimney Rock Village with curb-side service provided by Wade Nelon & Sons 828-625-0378. Recycling service for businesses in both communities is also available through Wade Nelon & Sons and GDS 828-245-1641.

Did you know that packaging represents 30% of the nation’s garbage and 13% of the cost of an item?  Precycling is the practice of reducing waste by encouraging the purchase of items that produce less waste in the first place.  It focuses on the first two of the three R’s - “reduce” and “reuse.”  This means that the consumer is paying more attention to packaging, is purchasing reusable items and is only buying what is necessary.  Those who precycle think about the use or disposal of the item itself, as well as the packaging.

Precycling has environmental benefits, such as conservation of energy, landfill space, and natural resources, as well as economical benefits, such as reduced waste hauling and disposal costs. It can also save you time and money! 

If you want to precycle, remember these things when making purchasing decisions: Don’t buy what you don’t need. Reduce what you do need. Reuse whenever possible.  Recycle what can’t be reused. You don’t have to recycle what you precycle.

Here are some quick tips to think about when precycling:

   1. Bring reusable cloth bags to the store with you.

   2. Buy in bulk! If you buy large sizes and quantities, there’s often a lot less packaging.  

   3. Buy products with the least amount of packaging, or, preferably, products with no packaging at all. 

   4.  Buy products packaged in recycled packaging.  If you have to use a container, it might as well be environmentally friendly.

   5.  Don’t buy disposable items (plates, cups, pens, diapers, batteries, feminine products, etc.)

   6. Use cloth towels and napkins. Break the paper towel habit!

   7. Don’t purchase styrofoam. It contains polystyrene, which is the most difficult material to break down in our landfill and is often considered a hazardous waste.

   8. Buy items packaged in cardboard, aluminum, steel, glass and plastic containers (especially if they are marked 1 and 2.)  These containers are recycled easily.

   9.  Read labels for ingredients. Stay away from chemicals that are harmful to our plant and animal life.

Did you know?

 Over the course of a year in the United States, the recycling of steel saves enough energy to heat and light 18,000,000 homes?

Almost all plastic items will have a number stamped on them.  While #1 & #2 are the easiest to recycle and the most valuable, GDS in Rutherford County accepts all kinds of plastic, #1-7, except #6 (Styrofoam)  So don’t be shy about throwing that plastic in the bin!

90¢ of every dollar spent on bottled water goes directly towards producing, labeling and transporting the bottle - there’s actually less than 10¢ worth of water in each bottle, and it’s generally no better than standard tap-water.