What’s the deal with trash and recycling?
There’s a lot of skepticism and misinformation about whether recycling actually makes a difference. Should you bother sorting your recyclables or just throw them away?
Recycling is one solution to the trash problem and should be top of mind for local residents and visitors. Reducing and reusing is the best scenario, but these days that’s easier said than done. The more we recycle materials, the less amount of garbage our landfills have to accommodate.
Here’s an inside look our Solid Waste Complex where recyclable materials are sorted, bundled and stored.
Oconee County Solid Waste & Recycling
Eleven drop-off sites are located throughout the county.
These sites are where people (who don’t live within cities or neighborhoods with curbside pickup) must take their household trash and recyclables.
Solid Waste & Recycling Centers
- ♻️ Strawberry Farm 301 N. Strawberry Farm Road, Seneca
- ♻️ Metromont 250 Ustorit Drive, Seneca
- ♻️ Pine Grove 298 Perry Woolbright Road, Townville
- ♻️ Salem 397 Stamp Creek Road, Salem
- ♻️ Richland 230 Richland Road, Westminster
- ♻️ Mountain Rest 107 Tunnel Town Road, Mountain Rest
- ♻️ Toccoa Hwy. 4167 Toccoa Hwy., Westminster
- ♻️ Five Forks 210 Camp Road, Walhalla
- ♻️ Port Bass 108 Rock Hill Road, Fair Play
- ♻️ Ebenezer 1089 Safety Harbor Road, West Union
- ♻️ Long Creek 186 Old Unity Road, Westminster
HOURS: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday 7am-7pm (closed Wednesday and Sunday)
Brochure with FAQs and specific details about types of waste allowed at the centers.
Solid Waste Complex
When recyclable containers and household trash dumpsters reach capacity at each of Oconee County’s Recycling Centers, trucks transport the containers to the Solid Waste Complex. At the complex, materials are sorted and bundled. When enough of each of material is accumulated, trucks come and transfer it elsewhere.
As far as garbage goes, our county has an agreement with Homer, GA where household trash is taken to a facility across state lines for disposal. (This video shows trailers being loaded in the transfer station and the hydraulic arm working to compact more trash onto the trailer.)
Recyclable materials are sold to vendors who are able to use them in a variety of innovative ways.
In 2022-2023 Oconee County earned $258,807 from recyclables! ♻️ 💵
Facts About Recyclable Materials
Statistics show that recycling is effective; and visuals show the types of material you can (and can’t) recycle in Oconee County:
🥫Cans
Recycling just one aluminum or steel can saves enough energy to power a TV for 3 hours.
Making products from recycled aluminum and steel requires 95% LESS energy and water than using new material.
Aluminum and steel are used mostly for containers but are also found in furniture and appliances.
The U.S. recycles 50.4% of aluminum and steel cans.
In 2022-2023, Oconee County recycled 18 tons of cans!
🥫 CMC Metals is the vendor who buys Oconee County’s recycled aluminum and steel cans (including all recycled metal).
📦 Cardboard
A typical U.S. household throws away more than 9,000 pieces of cardboard every year. Wow! 😳
Making products from recycled cardboard requires 75% LESS energy than using new material.
90% of consumer products are shipped in cardboard.
Recycling 1 ton of cardboard saves 46 gallons of oil.
Nearly 80% of all retailers and grocers recycle cardboard.
In 2022-2023, Oconee County recycled 1,321 tons of cardboard!
📦 Pratt Industries is the vendor who buys Oconee County’s recycled cardboard (and paper).
🫙 Glass
3.1 million tons of glass is recycled in the U.S. each year.
But 7.6 million tons of glass winds up in the landfill. Wow! 😳
Over a ton of natural resources are saved for every ton of glass that is recycled.
Glass is 100% recyclable infinitely without loss in quality or purity.
Glass has a 31.3% recycling rate.
Glass can be recycled back into containers or used in fiberglass, tile, filtration, sandblasting, and concrete pavements.
In 2022-2023, Oconee County recycled 517 tons of glass!
🫙 Strategic Materials is the vendor who buys Oconee County’s recycled glass.
⚙️ Metal
This is the most recycled material on the planet. Wow! ♻️
In the U.S., most products made with metal contain 90% or more recycled material in its composition.
60-80 MILLION tons of metal is recycled per year in the U.S.
Metal has a 69% recycling rate.
Metal is 100% recyclable without loss in quality.
In 2022-2023, Oconee County recycled 1,692 tons of metal!
⚙️ CMC Metals is the vendor who buys Oconee County’s recycled metal (including aluminum and steel cans).
🗞️ Paper
Americans throw away enough paper to build a 12 foot high wall from Seattle to New York City EVERY YEAR.
In the U.S., most products made with paper contain 37% or more recycled material in its composition.
Recycling a 3 foot stack of paper can save 1 tree 🌲.
Paper has a 68.2% recycling rate.
Paper is the most recycled material in the U.S. with 46 million tons of paper being recycled each year.
In 2022-2023, Oconee County recycled 201 tons of paper!
🗞️ Pratt Industries is the vendor who buys Oconee County’s recycled paper (and cardboard).
♳♴ Plastic
300 million tons of plastic are produced worldwide each year.
91% of plastic produced worldwide since 1950 has NOT been recycled.
Plastic is frequently used in nondurable products and one-time-use products.
The recycling rate for plastic is only 8.7%.
#1 and #2 plastic is recycled more often at a rate of 29%.
Plastic is the 2nd most landfilled waste in the U.S., just slightly behind food waste. 27 million tons of plastic is landfilled in the U.S. each year. Wow! 😧
Plastic NEVER fully decomposes.
Micro-plastics pose health problems for ALL water drinking life forms.
In 2022-2023, Oconee County recycled 22.8 tons of plastic!
♳♴ Sonoco is the vendor who buys Oconee County’s recycled plastic.
🛞 Tires
The U.S. recycles close to 250 million tires each year.
Recycling tires has grown since the 1990s (mostly because of laws that banned tires from going into landfills).
Tires have a 40% recycling rate.
Even with bans, tires make up 3% of municipal solid waste.
In 2022-2023, Oconee County recycled 340 tons of tires!
🛞 Liberty Tire Recycling is the vendor who accepts Oconee County’s recycled tires.
Additional vendors helping keep various materials out of Oconee County’s landfill:
Providence Environmental Inc. buys used cooking oil
Universal Environmental Services buys recycled motor oil and filters
Interstate Batteries buys old batteries
Call 2 Recycle helps deal with old cell phones
The Lion’s Club refurbishes old eyeglasses
Oconee County’s Landfill
Alas, there’s a great deal of items that get discarded that can’t be recycled or considered household trash. We have just one landfill in our county–and it’s filling up fast! The Seneca Construction and Demolition Landfill was initially expected to suffice for 80 years, but at the rate we’re going, it will be at maxed out much sooner than that.
Acceptable Items:
- Yard debris
- Land clearing debris
- Construction & demolition debris
- Furniture
- Fiberglass boats (cut into 4 foot sections)
- Pool liners
Unacceptable Items:
- Household trash
- Electronics (including TVs)
- Cardboard
- Metal
- Liquid paint or other liquids
- Friable asbestos
- PCBs
- Items that have been in contact with petroleum, pesticides, preservatives or solvents
Office and School Related Waste
The Bottom Line
“Throwing it away” is the modern way. And sadly, most of what we throw away is packaging. Until we have better options for purchasing products in long-lasting containers (barrels, crates, crocks, pottery, sacks, etc…), we’re better off throwing it away the best way possible! Recycling is critical to reducing the volume of waste that ends up in landfills and extends the lifespan of existing landfills. By reprocessing materials like paper, plastic, glass, metal, and tires, we reduce the need to extract and process raw materials from the earth. This not only preserves finite resources but also minimizes environmental damage from mining, deforestation, and drilling. It contributes to the sustainability of the planet, ensuring that future generations have access to the resources they need.
Special shout-out to Trinket Hurlbert, at the Solid Waste Department for sharing the recyclable material graphics and last year’s statistics. Now we know! ♻️
Author: Chanda Morrison
I write articles for the website and produce the monthly Visit Oconee SC newsletter highlighting tourism opportunities. I graduated from the University of Georgia with a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Health Science. Life took me in a different direction to where I never pursued work in that field. But I’m passionate about the planet! 🌏 I jumped on the chance to tour the Solid Waste Complex and dragged my 12-year old daughter along for the experience. Seeing is one thing–but smelling all there is to smell at the facility is a whole other sense that’s indescribable!
