Downtown recycling event draws record crowds

Cars lined up at the Hard 2 Recycle Event

Cars started lining up at 8:30am on Saturday, April 29th. The event was slated to start at 10am, but avid recyclers were poised and ready. By 11am, a line of cars stretched to the north all the way to the intersection of I-240 and to the south to McCormick Field.

We've been holding the Downtown recycling collection in the Public Works Parking lot since 2010. Normally we track around 280 cars through this one event, but Saturday we saw well over a thousand cars. 

Even though the event was supposed to run until 2:00pm, we had to close down at 1:15pm because our partners trucks were filled beyond capacity.

Collecting recyclables in record-breaking heat

Other partners for Hard 2 Recycle participated at this record-breaking event, including Blue Ridge Biofuels, Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore and the Asheville Humane Society. The event also relied heavily on the more than forty volunteers who worked hard emptying cars, carrying 100lb televisions and directing traffic as temperatures reached 84 degrees in the parking lot.  

Local green mover Open Box Moving Solutions (pictured here) couldn’t collect Styrofoam quickly enough. Every time a moving truck was filled, another massive pile of Styrofoam appeared.

"We usually collect two trucks’ of Styrofoam at a Hard 2 Recycle event. -Micah Chambers Owner Open Box Moving Solutions. I had my guys driving the trucks back to our warehouse in Leicester to unload and come back. We ended up moving five trucks worth of Styrofoam and filling up our warehouse." 

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Curbside Management owners Barry and Nancy Lawson have supported these collections since the start. Curbie was on site to collect cardboard, single stream recycling and books.

With such a tremendous turnout as we saw on Saturday, Curbside hauled off 10,660 pounds of material. 

Recycling by the numbers

The downtown event is one of the most popular of the five Hard 2 Recycle events we hold each year. In past years, GreenWorks’ Hard 2 Recycle events have averaged about 18 tons of material for the entire year. The April 29th event collected 19.83 tons at a single event.

While the amount of material people recycle and divert from the landfill is impressive, even more amazing is that our partners and volunteers are providing this important service for FREE. In fact, our partners often lose money, donating their time and costs to the effort.

• The average loss to N.C. counties is about $40,000 a year. In 2015, Buncombe County lost $54,000
• An average TV costs about $23 to recycle. Buncombe County only charges $10 at most and makes up the loss out of taxpayer funds.
• Private companies, which once took TVs for free, are charging today. Best Buy now charges $25 per TV​

Help us grow these events

With this quantum leap in attendance, our partners have begun the process of changing the event. We're looking at adding on additional sponsors, alternative locations and traffic calming practices. The only cost to the public for these collections is the $10 TV recycling fee. Local recycler Biltmore Iron & Metal Company takes a loss on each TV to provide a service to the community. 

At Hard 2 Recycle events, we request donations to help support our efforts and continue offering this service to the public, free-of-charge. As the event gains popularity and the demand for the opportunity to dispose of “hard to recycle” items responsibly increases, GreenWorks needs your support to continue offering this event for free to the public and to be able to accept all the materials that are brought to an event. Please consider making a donation to GreenWorks today.