Rutherford County Solid Waste operates 15 Recycling centers throughout the County. One recycle only center on Haley Rd. that accepts electronic scrap, cardboard, mixed paper, food and beverage container plastics, tin cans, aluminum cans, plus food and beverage container glass. The other Recycling Centers accept trash and recycling commodities. Some Centers accept carpet padding and tires (Cranor Rd., Eagleville and Weakley Lane) in addition to the other commodities.

With Middle Point Landfill possibly closing in six to ten years, the county is faced with searching for other solutions to dispose of trash and bulk items. Part of this solution is a more robust recycling program that captures valuable commodities and keeps them out of any landfill.

About three years ago, Rutherford County Solid Waste renamed the Convenience Centers to be called Recycling Centers. The thought for renaming the Centers was to bring more awareness to the Recycling effort and hopefully increase the amount of valuable commodities hauled to recycling facilities instead of the landfill.

Currently, two of the 15 Centers can't accept all of the recycling commodities. These two locations are too small of an area to have all of the commodity containers in the center. These are Rockvale and Leanna. Solid Waste Director Mac Nolen told WGNS in an email, "We have been attempting to enlarge both centers, but have experienced resistance from some residents to the change. The Rockvale center was our first attempt, but a small group of residents voiced their displeasure with the change and there was no voice from any resident that wanted the change, so Rockvale will remain unchanged for the near future."

The meeting scheduled for November 8, from 5:30 - 7:00 at Walter Hill Elementary is to allow opportunity for residents, both for and against change to be heard.

The plan for Leanna, as it was for Rockvale, is to make the new center larger and have two trash compactors and one cardboard compactor. Nolen went on to state, "By doing this, we can have as many as four lanes of travel for residents disposing of kitchen trash as opposed to the single lane that we currently have. This will help move the traffic through the center much quicker and help keep that traffic from sitting in the street, waiting their opportunity to dispose of their trash. In addition, the residents will have the opportunity to recycle their cardboard, mixed paper, food and beverage container plastics, tin cans, aluminum cans, carpet padding, plus food and beverage container glass. Also, this plan includes an area for the collection of automotive fluids (motor oil, gear oil, hydraulic, transmission and steering fluids. I believe the plan for Leanna is a positive change for the community. I live in the community and take my trash there. I have to take my recyclable commodities to the next nearest Center, which is Walter Hill."

DETAILS:

Public Meeting about Leanna Recycling/Convenience Center Improvements
Thursday November 8th from 5:30 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. at Walter Hill Elementary Cafeteria