Be Cart Smart: Tips to recycle and dispose of trash the right way

In advance of the holiday season when household waste amounts greatly increase, Richland County reminds residents of several tips for disposing of trash and recycling the right way to ensure roll carts are serviced – and to avoid a potential fine.

Every Richland County household is issued two large green roll carts for disposing of unwanted household items, but what goes in each cart is very different. Dark green carts hold trash that is destined for the landfill. Bright lime green carts are for recyclable materials that can be reused and help reduce the amount of waste that enters the County’s landfill.

While some items are indeed recyclable, they might not be collected curbside. To know for sure, residents can call Solid Waste & Recycling at 803-576-2440 or use the Waste Wizard on the Richland County website, rcgov.us/richlandrecycles.

To help ensure recycling roll carts contain the proper material, Richland County is working with its trash collection contractors on a cart-by-cart compliance effort. Beginning Dec. 1, carts with inappropriate items will not be serviced, and the property owner could be issued a citation of up to $1,092.50.

Homeowners will know a cart has not been emptied by haulers if the cart is tagged. Three types of tags are issued:

• A green tag is placed by the collectors as an initial warning.
• An orange tag is placed by Richland County as a follow-up warning.
• A final tag is placed by a code enforcement officer before a citation is issued with a potential fine.

Following is information to help residents be cart smart:

• DO RECYCLE: paper products (magazines, catalogs, newspapers, junk mail, books with the cover removed)
• DO RECYCLE: aluminum cans and metal cans that have been rinsed out
• DO RECYCLE: plastic and glass containers that have been rinsed out with the lids removed
• DON’T RECYCLE: plastic bags of any kind
• DON’T RECYCLE: plastic hangers, clothes, Styrofoam, aluminum foil, shredded paper or plastic wrap
• DON’T RECYCLE: Christmas lights or any type of electronic
• DON’T put yard debris in either roll cart (yard waste is collected weekly and should be correctly placed in piles or bags at the curb on collection day)

Free recycling events:

Richland County schedules various regional recycling events to give residents the opportunity to dispose of, for free, items not accepted at curbside collection. Every spring, the County holds Richland Recycles Day, a daylong recycling event at the S.C. State Fairgrounds where residents can also dispose of items not accepted at curbside collection, also without charge.

Drop-off locations:

Richland County has two drop-off centers where residents can dispose of most unwanted materials:

• C&D Landfill Drop-off Center, 1070 Caughman Road (off Monticello Road) in Columbia, 803-576-2390
  7 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday–Friday
  7 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Saturday
• Lower Richland Drop-off Center, 10531 Garners Ferry Road in Eastover, 803-776-2324
  8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday–Saturday
  12:30 p.m.-5 p.m. Sunday

       Richland County also has a partially staffed site at Clemson Road that takes limited recyclables. Visit
rcgov.us/richlandrecycles for details. Anyone found dumping or placing items on the grounds at
these locations could face potential fines.

No fats, oils or grease down the drain:

Fats, oils and grease should never be poured down a drain because of the potential damage to the County sewer system, resulting in backups that disrupt water service for many households. Used cooking oil should be put into a sealable container and dropped off at one of the following sites:

• Richland County C&D Landfill, 1070 Caughman Road North (off Monticello Road), Columbia
• Lower Richland Drop-off Site, 10531 Garners Ferry Road, Eastover
• Clemson Road Recycling Site, 900 Clemson Road, Columbia

 

Mobile phone app and online resource:

Residents are encouraged to use the County’s collections schedules and reminders service  available for free at rcgov.us/richlandrecycles and on the County’s Facebook page by clicking the “Collection Schedules and Reminders” tab. By typing in an address, the user can see his or her collection days, and by typing in the name of an item, the “Waste Wizard” will tell the user whether the item belongs in the trash or recycle cart.

The Waste Wizard is also part of the “Richland Solid Waste” free mobile phone app, which will also send friendly reminders through text, email or phone call when it’s a trash or recycle collection day.

For more information, visit rcgov.us/richlandrecycles or call 803-576-2440.