ROWAN COUNTY, N.C. — No matter how you slice it, putting a can, some plastic or cardboard into a blue bin makes you feel something -- just ask the guy who switched from waste management to being recycling manager for Rowan County.
"It's very unique, and I enjoy the recycling side," Brent Carlton said.
While many people get the feeling they helped the planet when they recycle something, you may also wonder sometimes if your recycling actually makes a difference.
THE QUESTION
That's what viewer Michelle H. wanted to know. She emailed WCNC Charlotte, saying: "I live in Rowan County and have been told by numerous people that recycling items dropped off at local convenience sites are not really recycled at all, and they go to the landfill with all the other trash. Can you verify if Rowan County convenience sites actually do recycle the items dropped off with them?"
We took her question and went to see for ourselves.
THE SOURCES
THE ANSWER
Yes, Rowan County does recycle the items dropped off at the county's convenience sites -- as long as it's not contaminated and is recyclable.
WHAT WE FOUND
WCNC Charlotte started at one of the eight drop-off sites Rowan County uses. This is where people can bring their recyclables and put them in bins.
A truck we followed spent the morning picking up cardboard from those different sites. WCNC Charlotte followed it 20 minutes down the road to the county's Recycling Process Center. The Recycling Process Center is just what the name says: Plastics, cans, metals, cardboard, and even electronics are separated and compacted here.
"Once it's tipped here on the floor, we go through it again and make sure that it's clean, and we bail it up," Carlton said.
Then once it's bailed up, it's sold to the highest bidder.
"I find buyers for it, and then we sell it; the cardboard makes boxes for Amazon, and the plastic makes like detergent bottles and milk jugs," Carlton said.
From 2022 to 2023, among cardboard, plastic, cans, and electronics, Rowan County recycled 854,800 pounds.
"The only thing that gets thrown away is trash that is coming in the plastic-like food containers with it, so we have to throw it away," Carlton said.
WCNC Charlotte saw some of that trash, but only a handful of things were pushed to the side. Carlton said they don't keep track of how much trash gets thrown away because there's just not enough.
"I have never sent a load to the landfill," Carlton said.
It's important for people to know what to recycle and to make sure everything is clean before throwing it in the recycling bin.
"We only take plastic bottles and jugs, ones that are [recycling codes] 1 and 2's," Carlton said.
According to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, every 1.7 hours, North Carolinians throw away enough plastic bottles to equal the weight of a school bus. The department also said the data on the 2023 average residential recycling contamination rate is 19.4%, down slightly from 2022.
So if you take the time to throw the right things in the recycling bin, you can feel better that the same piece of cardboard or plastic might show up in your hands again someday in a new form.
Contact Meghan Bragg at mbragg@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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