Building off the success of the county’s current recycling program, members of the Carter County Commission’s Landfill Committee voted to give the program manager the go-ahead to pursue the creation of a regional recycling hub that would serve not only Carter County but other cities and counties as well.
“If we started this, Carter County would be the hub and other counties would be the spokes of the wheel,” Landfill Manager Benny Lyons said. “The more spokes we have to go in our hub, the more beneficial it will be to Carter County.”
Creating a recycling center hub would increase business for Carter County and would assist other counties in the region who do not have recycling programs or whose recycling programs are not as advanced as Carter County’s.
Adding to the recycling program would also bring additional revenue into the county through the sale of the recyclable materials, Lyons said.
A state grant for $300,000 is available for the creation of a recycling center hub, Lyons told the committee. That grant money could be used for a variety of items, such as the purchase of trucks, equipment or facilities, he added.
“East Tennessee doesn’t have a recycling hub,” Lyons said, adding he hoped Carter County would be the first so it could capture the state grant money.
The Recycling Center already has been contacted by Unicoi County for a possible partnership, Lyons said. Currently, Unicoi County is having to pay an outside company to have their recyclable materials transported to a location in Kingsport, he said.
Because Carter County is closer, Lyons said he could offer to transport the recyclable materials to the Carter County center at a lower rate than what Unicoi County is paying now.
Not only would the center receive that fee from Unicoi County, but the county also would have the revenue from the sale of those materials.
“I want to cover the cost of our diesel and the wear and tear on our truck, but basically we would be getting this material for free,” Lyons said. “It would bring revenue into the county.”
Committee member Charles Von Cannon questioned what the financial impact would be by bringing landfill waste from another county into Carter County.
He also cited concerns with landfill employees having to open bagged garbage in order to remove the recyclable material.
“We are not going to get into household garbage at all,” Lyons said. “Absolutely no household trash, no bagged garbage.” The materials that would be taken by the recycling center hub would be pre-sorted paper, cardboard, plastics and metal cans, he said, adding it would operate just as the recycling center does now.
The agreement would only deal with recyclable materials and would not be an agreement to accept household garbage, demolition waste, brush or tires from any other county, Lyons said.
Citing a need to know the financial impact and cost to the county, Von Cannon said he still opposed the idea.
“I disagree with doing this at this time until we get our own house in order,” Von Cannon said. “We are a long way from where we need to be with recycling in this county.”
Several members of the committee took issue with those comments by Von Cannon.
“We are 12 percent ahead of our state goal as far as recycling right now,” Mike Hill said. The state asks that counties recycle at least 25 percent of their waste. Currently Carter County recycles an estimated 37 percent of its solid waste.
Committee Chairwoman Bobbie Gouge-Dietz spoke up on behalf of Lyons and the work he has accomplished at the landfill and the recycling center.
“I think Benny has proven to us he knows how to manage a landfill,” Gouge-Dietz said. “Are we going to let him manage the landfill or are we going to have him be a puppet and come in here and ask us every time he wants to make a decision? We need to let him do his job.”
Committee member Danny Ward also expressed his support of Lyons. “He needs to be given the same authority as other department heads,” he said. “We need to let him do his job.”
Gouge-Dietz made a motion to allow Lyons to pursue the creation of a recycling center hub. The motion was seconded by Hill.
Von Cannon proposed an amendment to the motion which would direct Lyons to see the advice of the County Technical Assistance Service in pursuing the program.
The amendment was accepted by Gouge-Dietz and Hill, and Lyons said he would be happy to get the advice of CTAS on the matter.
When put to a vote, the motion passed unanimously.