Solid Waste / Landfill

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Public Meeting on Landfill Expansion Plans - 6 pm November 10, 2022 

NOTE: All Solid Waste facilities will be open at 10:00 am on Wednesday, June 12, 2024 for Personnel Training

NCDEQ Public Hearing on Landfill Expansion - 5 pm on Tuesday, July 2, 2024 in Commissioner's Chambers

Call Kenn Webb at 828-884-1842 for details

What We Do

The Transylvania County Solid Waste Department provides a means for the citizens of Transylvania County to properly dispose of the trash they generate in their daily lives. The department operates a comprehensive waste management program that provides areas for disposal and encourages recycling and waste reduction. The challenge is to provide low cost, efficient service while ensuring adequate capacity and environmental protection.

Solid Waste currently has 17 full time and 2 part time employees that operate four collection centers and one sanitary landfill. The equipment operators make sure that the materials brought to the landfill are properly disposed of and that the recyclable materials are transported to the proper locations. Our mechanic maintains the machines and trucks necessary for accomplishing these tasks. The site attendants and scale operators help citizens put their materials in the right place and collect the necessary fees. The office assistant keeps supplies ordered, pays the bills and answers numerous phone calls. Our litter pick up program utilizes community service workers in a never-ending attempt to keep our roadsides clean.

The collection centers are located at Calvert, See Off Road, Pisgah Forest, and Woodruff Road.

The purpose of the collection centers is to provide homeowners a convenient place to drop off their household garbage and recyclables. Our pay-as-you-throw program encourages people to reduce the amount of waste they generate and increase the amount of waste they recycle. Customers are charged for the garbage they throw away but there is no charge for sorted recyclable materials.

On average, more than 800 customers use the collection centers daily. The Pisgah Forest center gets the most traffic and is open from 8:00 am to 5:30 pm Monday through Saturday. See Off Road and Woodruff Rd are open from 8:00 to 4:00 Monday through Saturday. Calvert Rd is open Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday 8am-4pm . Commercial customers are asked to bring their loads to the landfill.

The landfill is located on Woodruff Road outside of Rosman. Its hours of operation are 8:00 to 4:00 Monday through Saturday. Homeowners with large, loose loads and commercial and construction customers can bring their loads across our drive thru scales. Most of these are large trucks. Loads coming to the landfill must be secured so no debris will blow out of the vehicle. Tarps are the best way to accomplish this. The Household Hazardous Waste collection center and the electronics recycling program are also located at the landfill.

The employees of the Transylvania County Solid Waste Department work hard to provide our citizens a safe, clean and efficient method to deal with their trash. We strive to be good stewards of the environment by protecting ground water and surface water. We aid in litter pick-up and control and work to stop illegal dumping.

Our county commissioners and planners have had the foresight to plan for the future disposal needs of the county. Many counties are having to ship garbage to large regional landfills at great expense. We have the property and equipment to continue operations for many years.

Solid Waste Holiday Closings for 2024

•       New Year’s Day- Monday, January 1st
•       MLK Day- Monday, January 15th (Sites will be OPEN Saturday, January 13th)
•       Good Friday- Friday, March 29th (Sites will be OPEN Saturday, March 30th)
•       Memorial Day- Monday, May 27th (Sites will be OPEN Saturday, May 25th)
•       Independence Day- Thursday July 4th
•       Labor Day- Monday, September 2nd (Sites will be OPEN Saturday, August 31st)
•       Veteran’s Day- Monday, November 11th (Sites will be OPEN Saturday, November 9th)
•       Thanksgiving Day- Thursday, November 28th (Sites will be OPEN Fri Nov 29th & Sat 30th)
•       Christmas- Tuesday and Wednesday, December 24th and 25th 

Note: Solid Waste facilities will be closed Wednesday, January 1st, 2025, for New Year's Holiday

General Phone Number - 828-884-6830
If there is inclement weather call 828-884-6830 for details on closings of collection centers or landfill.

Procedure

1. Household Hazardous Waste:

HHW drop offs are accepted at the Woodruff Landfill, Monday-Saturday from 8:00 am-4:00 pm. HHW is only accepted at Landfill from residents of Transylvania County. NO BUSINESS WASTE will be accepted (this includes home-based businesses).

Materials that will be accepted include pesticides, weed killers, bug sprays, used motor oil, antifreeze, gasoline, kerosene, motor oil and recyclable batteries. Materials that will not be accepted include liquid paint, regulated-medical wastes, industrial or business waste, explosives or unknowns. All containers must be labeled. If you have questions, please call (828) 884-6830.

2. Electronics:

TV’s and other electronics should be taken to the Woodruff Landfill. The charge for TV disposal is $15 per unit. Computers, printers, and monitors will be accepted at no charge. These materials are sent to a recycling facility.

3. Other Recyclable materials:

Transylvania County accepts the following recyclable materials free of charge.

All items will be marketed so certain quality standards must be met. Items must be clean, free of contaminants and sorted properly at our collection centers.

• A) Newspapers and inserts-accepted at all locations
• B) Mixed paper-includes magazines, junk mail, cereal boxes (remove plastic liner), paperback books, phone books, office paper, Accepted at all locations. No paper towels, napkins, or coated paper.
• C) Glass Bottles- green, brown and clear bottles are accepted at all locations. Please rinse. No pane glass, plates, drinking glasses or light bulbs.
• D) Mixed Plastic - Bottles, tubs, jugs and jars only. Lids on bottles OK. NO other plastics at this time.
• E) Steel food cans-labels can be left on. Please rinse. Accepted at all locations.
• F) Aluminum beverage cans- No foil or pie pans. Please rinse. Accepted at all locations.
• G) Cardboard- dry, corrugated, flattened cardboard boxes. No pizza or wax coated food boxes because of contamination. All locations from households. No Commercial cardboard at See Off, all other sites Commercial cardboard OK. If you have large amounts of cardboard, we encourage you to flatten prior to arrival at the Collection Center. Please avoid upper lot at Pisgah Forest if you have large volumes, the Site Attendant will direct you to the lower lot where you can load the flattened cardboard into the container for shipment.
• H) Tires- up to 5 car tires without rims accepted free at Woodruff Landfill.
• I) Appliances- refrigerators, stove, hot water heaters, washer and dryers, dishwashers, freezers, and air conditioners are accepted free at Woodruff Landfill. There is no charge for microwaves, toaster ovens, dehumidifiers and other small kitchen appliances.
• J) Batteries- Automotive batteries are accepted at no charge at Woodruff, Calvert and Pisgah Forest. Small rechargeable (NiCd, NiMH, Lithium) batteries are also accepted at all locations at no charge. Note: alkaline batteries should be discarded in the trash.
• K) Used auto oil filters and antifreeze - accepted at Woodruff and Calvert only.
• L) Used motor oil - accepted at Woodruff and Calvert only. We encourage the public to consider dropping off motor oil to one of several local businesses that change oil and service automobiles.
• M) Used cooking oil is accepted at Pisgah Forest

4. Materials that are prohibited from being disposed of in the landfill:

Tires- must be brought to Woodruff landfill and stacked in tire trailer

Automotive batteries- Can be taken to Pisgah Forest, Calvert or Woodruff Landfill and placed in storage containers

Liquid Paint- paint must be dried. Open lid and let dry or add kitty litter or sawdust and then dispose of dried paint in household garbage.

Aluminum Cans-  Recycle them at our collection centers.

Plastic Beverage Containers- have been banned from landfilling and should be recycled.

Used Motor Oil- put in collection drums at Calvert and Woodruff.

Leaves and yard waste- should be composted. The landfill accepts leaves in the brush area.

5. Taking materials to the landfill:

The landfill is located on Woodruff Road southwest of Rosman. The entrance is off Highway 64 just past the Mitchell-Bissel Plant. Loads must be moved in a manner that the contents will not leak or spill and shall be covered to keep contents dry and to prevent blowing of material. When you get to the main building pull onto the scales and the scale operator will ask to see your drivers license and will ask what type of materials you have. You will then be directed where to dispose of them. After unloading drive back on the scales to weigh out and pay, if necessary.

6. Paying for disposal:

Transylvania County operates under a user fee program. Residents pay for the trash they generate. Cash or Check at Collection Centers. Cash, Check or Credit Cards are NOW accepted at the landfill.

You can reduce your cost by recycling and reducing the amount of trash you generate. At the landfill, trash, scrap lumber and shingles cost $62 a ton to dispose. Unpainted block, unpainted concrete and asphalt cost $20 a ton. Brush, and Yard waste costs $20 a ton. Stumps and dirt costs $20.00 a ton. There is a $15.00 minimum charge at the landfill. There is no charge for scrap metal recycling.

The collection centers at See Off, Calvert and Pisgah Forest are designed to accommodate bagged household waste. The weight limit for the bags is thirty pounds per bag. There is no charge for recyclable materials. Cash or checks are the only acceptable forms of payment. No credit or debit cards are accepted at the Collection Centers. Bag Stickers are sold at the Landfill where credit cards are accepted. Bagged waste may also be deposited at the Landfill.

Green stickers will be sold at $3.00 each. ONE green sticker should be placed on each bag of trash. Sheets of green bag stickers (5/sheet) may be purchased in quantity of 3 sheets for $40.00 (a savings of $5.00)

Orange stickers $1.50 value will be accepted as long as customers have them; however, two orange stickers will be required for each bag of trash disposed. (effective July 1, 2021)

Contractors, haulers and others who use the landfill frequently can apply to open a credit account at the landfill. Applications are available from the County Finance Office. Qualified applicants will be assigned a customer and vehicle identification number. Billing statements are mailed out at the end of each month. Fees for commercial solid waste haulers are additional.