Composting coming to Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, recycling to Pisgah View Apartments

In ongoing work to reduce Asheville’s carbon footprint, Asheville’s Office of Sustainability will launch a composting pilot program in September, diverting compostable materials from Thomas Wolfe Auditorium.

Using triple-stream bins (e.g. landfill/recycling/composting), the plan calls for the pilot program to work with Danny’s Dumpster to collect compostable materials from events. Through this venture, the City has the potential to annually divert an estimated 11 tons from the landfill!

If the pilot for this project goes well, the Office of Sustainability hopes to apply this program to the whole U.S. Cellular Center and perhaps to other City facilities as well.

This pilot program has been made possible through a third grant to the City from the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ’s) Community Waste Reduction and Recycling (CWRAR) Program. The City will receive approximately $20,000 for the grant.

Once the composting pilot is launched, look for triple stream waste stations, which consist of recycling, landfill and composting bins, will be located throughout the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium.  Signage on the stations will help guide users on how to dispose of materials properly.

Public housing recycling program to expand too

Past Community Waste Reduction and Recycling grants have been used to fund Asheville’s Public Housing Recycling Program, bringing recycling to the City’s public housing communities. And a portion of this year’s grant will allow the City to provide recycling services to the 250 units in Pisgah View Apartments, starting in August.

The first grant the City received funded the pilot project, which brought recycling to the Southside community. Last year’s grant was used to bring this program to the Hillcrest and Deaverview communities. So far, these grants have enabled the City to divert nearly 3 tons of recyclable materials from the landfill every month, which is over 30 tons annually.

To make these recycling programs a success, the Office of Sustainability works closely with the Sanitation Department, Curbside Management and Asheville GreenWorks.

Asheville’s goal is to reduce the amount of waste generated by 50 percent by 2035. Since 2008, the City has reached more than 1/3 of its carbon reduction goal and 6.9 percent of its waste reduction goal. According to City Council’s Strategic Priorities: The City wishes to reduce the amount of refuse that is disposed of in landfills and increase materials that are recycled and composted. These measures are important not only in promoting good land-use, but in improving environmental sustainability within our community.