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Collection Statistics

Orange County Landfill Tons Managed 2010-2011

Type of Material Tons Percent
Material Buried    
Municipal Solid Waste

46,524

85%

Construction and Demolition Waste

7,699

14%

Stumps and inert debris

218

<1%

Mobile Homes

26

<1%

Total Buried

54,467

100%

Material Recovered and Recycled at Landfill  
Vegetative Waste

7,485

68%

White Goods

262

2%

Tires

1,492

14%

Scrap Metal

729

7%

Clean Wood

990

9%

Total Recovered from landfill

10,958

100%

Total Managed at Landfill

65,425

 

Waste Generated by Origin 2010-2011
(includes all materials brought to Orange County Landfill

Origin Tons Percent
Orange County

12,004

18%
Town of Carrboro

7,499

12%
Town of Chapel Hill

18,063

28%
Town of Hillsborough

2,034

3%
UNC

201

<1
UNC Hospital (UNC Hosp trucks only)*

18

<1
Privately hauled

25,348

39%
Total

65,167 

    100%

*Most waste on campus and from hospital hauled by private haulers.

Discrepancy between total managed by landfill and total generated by origin is a result of rounding errors.

2010-2011 Tons of materials managed by Orange Community Recycling (OCR) Division

Type of Material Recycled Tons Percent
All Paper (includes newspaper, phonebooks, glossy magazines, and mixed paper)

5,688

38%

Commingled Bottles, Cans and Jars

5,980

35%

Toxics Reduction Improvement Program (TRIP) (includes hazardous waste, motor oil, filters, batteries and electronics)

742

4%

Corrugated Cardboard

1,446

9%

Rigid Non-bottle #2 and #5 Plastics

156

<1%

Food Waste and Animal Bedding

2,100

14%

Total recycled by OCR

16,113

  100%

Statistics include collection of materials from
Drop-off locations and Commercial Recycling Program

Tonnage Recycled by Orange Community Recycling Programs 2010-2011

Program Tons Percent
Urban Curbside

3,766

23%

Rural Curb

1,868

12%

Multifamily

1,242

8%

Drop off

5,184

32%

Toxics Reduction Improvement Program (TRIP)

742

5%

Commercial recycling

988

6%

Commercial Food Waste Recycling

2,100

13%

Government Facilities Recycling

131

1%

Orange County Schools

       66

<1%
Total

 16,120

   100%

Difference in tonnage collected by program and tonnage of recyclables collected by material (~5%) reflects the amount of discards (contamination) separated from recyclables incoming before they are sold to recycling markets.

Recycling by Others 2010-2011 (Not Orange County Solid Waste Department)

Program Tons Percent
Orange County and Chapel Hill/Carrboro Public Schools

236

4%

UNC (does not include coal ash)

4,084

74%

Other private recycling (est)

1,200

22%

Total

5,520

100%

These tons are estimated based on data furnished by others.

Waste Sort Data 2010

In April of 2010, Orange County conducted its fifth waste composition study since 1990. The latest study showed the amount of recyclable material being thrown out has declined 31% in the residential sector, 22% in the commercial sector and 11% in the multifamily sector since the previous waste sort in 2005.  Of the 47,300 tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) landfilled last year, more than 10,400 tons are readily recyclable cans, bottles and paper. Another 3,800 tons are materials that could be recycled at all dropoff sites such as rigid plastic, or recycled just at the landfill or convenience centers such as clean wood, scrap metal and electronics.  Capturing half of this could push the County’s waste reduction rate close to 58%. The County has conducted a waste sort every five years to help focus its solid waste planning work and see how well recycling programs are working in the various sectors. The time series data (in pdf file format), from these sectors and annual data by geographic sector can be accessed on clicking the links below.

Waste Sort Data 2005

In April of 2005, Orange County conducted a waste composition study that showed the amount of recyclable material being thrown out has declined 11% since the last waste sort was conducted in 2000. Of the 57,000 tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) landfilled, more than 22,000 are readily recyclable, down from 24,900 five years ago.

The County has conducted a waste sort every five years since 1990 to help focus its solid waste planning work and see how well recycling programs are working in the various sectors. The data (in pdf file format), from these sectors can be accessed on clicking the links below.