Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
16 <br /> <br /> The Board discussed and provided direction to Solid Waste staff regarding enforcement 1 <br />of the current Solid Waste Ordinance provisions related to Construction and Demolition Waste 2 <br />at the Waste and Recycling Centers. 3 <br /> 4 <br />BACKGROUND: 5 <br />The Orange County Waste and Recycling Centers (Centers) were established for the disposal 6 <br />of household municipal solid waste and recycling. Specifically, the Orange County Solid Waste 7 <br />Ordinance provides in Section 34-40 that Centers are maintained at selected locations 8 <br />throughout the County for the convenience of County residents. It details a list of wastes that 9 <br />may not be accepted at convenience centers, including commercial waste, institutional waste, 10 <br />industrial waste, land clearing waste, and construction waste and demolition waste. In contrast, 11 <br />the ordinance specifically provides a list of materials that, if there is a specifically designated 12 <br />area for collection, may be deposited at the Centers, including white goods, furniture, yard 13 <br />waste and tires. These ordinance provisions have been in effect since 14 <br />May of 1993. 15 <br /> 16 <br />A recent audit of the Centers highlighted that the Ordinance was not being consistently followed 17 <br />by some of the Solid Waste staff. The Centers have traditionally allowed a “wheelbarrows” or up 18 <br />to 3 cubic feet worth of construction and demolition waste to be deposited in the bulky waste 19 <br />area as an accommodation to residential users of the sites. This amount was being 20 <br />inconsistently applied by staff. In addition, it became apparent that construction and demolition 21 <br />waste of a commercial nature was also being brought to the sites. Individuals that were 22 <br />renovating homes for commercial purposes were bringing or causing large quantities of 23 <br />material to be brought to the sites. 24 <br /> 25 <br />This activity was not only contrary to the current Solid Waste Ordinance but also raised other 26 <br />concerns. The Orange County Regulated Recycling Materials Ordinance (RRMO) is being 27 <br />circumvented by having construction and demolition wastes brought to the Centers. The RRMO 28 <br />requires that regulated recyclable construction and demolition waste be separated from other 29 <br />solid waste unless delivered to a certified commingled recycling facility. Allowing the 30 <br />construction and demolition waste at the Centers violates the RRMO. The construction and 31 <br />demolition waste that is brought to the Centers is transported to a transfer station and ultimately 32 <br />disposed of in a municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill. 33 <br /> 34 <br />In addition to conflicting with the RRMO, accepting Construction and Demolition waste at the 35 <br />Centers increase both transportation costs and disposal costs which have seen recent 36 <br />increases and will continue to increase. During fiscal year 2019-20, the disposal rate at the 37 <br />Durham transfer station increased from $44.50 per ton to $47.50 per ton. 38 <br /> 39 <br />FINANCIAL IMPACT: Current conservative estimates are that 20-25% of waste delivered to the 40 <br />Waste and Recycling Centers are construction and demolition wastes. Tipping fees for those 41 <br />materials are estimated to be $75,000-$88,000 per year. Increasing the amount of allowable 42 <br />construction and demolition wastes will result in increased transportation and disposal costs 43 <br />ultimately resulting in a need to increase the Solid Waste Programs Fee. 44 <br /> 45 <br /> Robert Williams, Solid Waste Director, made the following PowerPoint presentation: 46 <br /> 47 <br />Waste and Recycling Centers 48 <br />Construction and Demolition Discussion 49 <br />May 19, 2020 50