Catawba County residents likely do not spend much time thinking about trash – for most, the last stop for household waste is at the end of their curb, but this is only the beginning.
For those involved with waste management, trash collecting is more than a service provided – it is a business.
Catawba County owns and operates the Blackburn Sanitary Landfill offering residents a number of services for dealing with waste.
The Blackburn Sanitary Landfill contains two separate landfills, the first being the municipal solid waste (MSW) and the second, called the construction and demolition (C&D) landfill.
The MSW is a lined sanitary landfill where household trash is buried, while the C&D landfill is reserved for construction debris like scrap wood or other building materials.
Residents in the county as well as businesses pay solid waste fees based on weight and the type of trash disposed of, Waste Reduction Coordinator for Catawba County Amanda Kain said.
“The county charges $33 per ton for disposal in the MSW,” Kain said, “while the cost for disposal at the C&D landfill is $23 a ton.”
The landfills take in around 560 tons a day, Kain said.
Residents also have access to the electronic recycling area as well as a paint recycling area located at the landfill to dispose of items in a safe manner. Residents can recycle all sorts of electronics from batteries to computers at the center.
“The electronics are organized by staff at the landfill and sent to an electronics recycler,” Kain said.
The paint-recycling center accepts latex and oil based paint collection, and residents simply drop off unwanted paints, which staff mixes into large barrels and send to a recycler where they are converted into a fuel mixture.
“We do collection events in Catawba County to handle that ugly stuff we try and keep out of our landfill,” Kain said.
Electronics and paint were two of the most common wastes brought to the events, and this led to the creation of a permanent site for resident’s disposal.
Items such as washing machines and dryers end up at the landfill once they have reached the end of life. For these items, the state charges a fee when purchasing these items in a store, which is then given to the counties to help pay for disposal, Kain said.
Once trash reaches the landfill, workers spread it out across the ground and compact the trash. After trash is compacted, it is covered by at least six inches of dirt, according to the county website.
The covering of each layer happens on a daily basis, Kain said.
Reusing and recycling everything possible is important to the county, Kain said.
To read the full story, visit http://www.hickoryrecord.com/news/catawba-county-landfills-to-be-full-in-years/article_b053ea39-8882-5b21-bff1-49530983bb64.html.