This graph demonstrates how Buncombe County’s sustainability plan breaks its three main goals — Economy, Environment and Community — into a series of objectives (14 in all). In many cases, the plan recommends broad strategies such as “promoting waste minimization” and then provides data “indicators” for tracking them, but it doesn’t explain the reasons for the changes shown or provide concrete future targets. Here are some of the most recent waste prevention and safety indicators that will be presented to the commissioners in May as part of the annual sustainability report.
Most indicators show a decrease compared with 2008 figures, meaning less of those items is being recycled at the landfill. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s just being dumped somewhere. Kristy Smith, bioreactor manager at the Buncombe County landfill, says that because metal prices have soared in recent years, more people are taking their old appliances to scrap yards rather than recycling them. Other highlighted changes, she speculates, are also attributable to market forces rather than county policy. The big jump in the amount of oil recycled at the landfill, for example, is probably due in part to more people changing their oil themselves to save money, says Smith. (Graph by Steph Guinan)
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