New Hanover County encourages more recycling to extend landfill life span

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — New Hanover County is looking to encourage more recycling to keep the county’s landfill from filling up. 

Recycling and Solid Waste Director Joe Suleyman said there’s a growing number of people dumping cardboard in the county’s landfill instead of at the recycling center down the street.

So much so that Suleyman recommended county commissioners institute a fine for dumping cardboard in the landfill at the board’s budget work session last week. 

By current estimates, the county’s landfill has about 23 years left before it’s full—Suleyman is hoping to extend that by encouraging more residents to recycle. 

He said with the rise of online shopping and home deliveries, cardboard waste has grown exponentially in recent years. 

“We’re seeing it at the point of generation, we’re seeing it in the back of garbage trucks, we’re seeing it coming in these tractor trailer loads of material, and I don’t think it’s going to change anytime soon. So, it really is a problem in need of a solution,” Suleyman said. 

New Hanover is unique in that it has a landfill that can handle household waste, unlike Pender and Brunswick Counties, which have to ship much of their trash elsewhere. That leads to taxpayers paying more for their trash. 

Commissioner Rob Zapple said adding a small fee for cardboard dumpers could be a proactive way to plan for the future. 

“I think again, it’s a common sense way to nudge people, haulers, to say ‘guys, think this through before you drive up.’ If you know you have a large load of cardboard, pull over to the recycling center first then continue on your way up to the landfill,” Zapple said. 

Another concern is that a major hurricane could drastically reduce the remaining lifespan of the landfill because of the waste that storm damage can create. 

“Generates a lot of roof shingles, and rotten carpet, spoiled food, things like that. And that’s a space killer overnight,” Suleyman explained. 

That makes it all the more imperative—Zapple said—that people do their part. 

“It’s really important, you know, for all of us. In local government but also every citizen out there. If we can all work together along with the local haulers, man we can lick this one,” he noted. 

Suleyman added if the fee is implemented, it’s intended to be more of a deterrent, and that haulers would be notified before they decide to dump.