Partners of Regional Recycling Solutions are, legally, stuck between a rock and a hard place. By county standards, their application must first be approved by NCDENR. But RRS cannot gain approval from DENR without first receiving approval from the county — trapping the company in a paradoxical loop of permitting problems.
As we peruse our local grocery store shelves, we can all rest assured that the familiar arrow symbols and numbers displayed on product packages mean the material can be recycled. Right? “This is a common misconception,” says Barry Lawson, president of Curbside Management in Asheville. “The symbol actually tells you what kind of material the […]
The City of Asheville’s new all-in-one recycling cans contain a chip in the handle, but don’t worry about it knowing too much about you — save that angst for satellites and such.
I wanted to comment on Karen Hardison’s letter in the Dec. 21 Xpress, “Asheville City Schools Need to Smarten Up on Waste.” I am reminded of a bumper sticker: “critical thinking … the other national deficit.” Our children will tend to emulate adults in thinking and action unless something breaks the thought/action cycle currently in […]
Santa, shmanta. Sure, the big guy is great at unloading gifts. But you might also notice that his little “green” elves wrap that stuff in tons of paper, plastic and cardboard. And does he ever come back with his sleigh to recycle all that trash? Not even once. So this year, we decided to spotlight […]
You may have seen them around Asheville: new, bigger recycling bins, part of a pilot program aimed at making recycling easier and more convenient for city residents. And while the jury’s still out, city staff report promising results so far. Meanwhile, over at the Westgate recycling center, piles of recyclables, relics of the holiday season, […]
Plastic beverage containers — usually made of polyethylene terephthalate, an inexpensive, shatter-resistant and recyclable resin — are ubiquitous. And these days, evolving green initiatives, new laws and changing consumer attitudes are feeding an expanding loop that converts our trash into products you can drink from, wear or even walk on. Last year’s statewide ban on […]
A reader’s call-in question led Xpress from plastics to thieves this week. At the start, we set out to find out why some plastic can be recycled and some can’t. We got an answer but then stumbled upon a perplexing trend in the world of recycling: thieves who’ll snatch up aluminum cans, washers and dryers, […]
It’s time to dig out from under the detritus of December—paper, boxes and, lord knows, bottles—and the city of Asheville and Curbside Management are leading the charge with their Feed the Bin and Win contest. It’s not just about good, green feelings, either—there’s also cold, hard cash involved. Beginning Monday, Feb. 4, participating households will […]
