Archived Outdoors

Recycling on the uptick

Recycling is on the rise in North Carolina according to a recently released report showing numbers for all 100 counties and municipalities. 

According to the report, there was a 5.3 percent increase in paper and container recycling for fiscal year 2016-2017 as compared to the previous year, with local recycling programs collecting more than 1.7 million tons of traditional and non-traditional materials. 

Recovery of metal has also continued to rise, with North Carolina recovering 8,000 more tons of metal than the previous year. However, plastic and glass tonnages have remained essentially unchanged. Counties that ranked higher implemented programs to collect non-traditional materials like asphalt shingles scrap metal, construction debris electronics and wood waste. 

The full report is available at deq.nc.gov/about/divisions/waste-management/sw/data/annual-reports.

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