LUMBERTON — The city is calling a temporary halt to its curbside recycling program because of a large increase in household waste being generated because of COVID-19.

Lumberton’s leaders were in the middle of launching a program to educate the public on recyclable materials when the coronavirus brought the effort to a halt, said Rob Armstrong, city Public Works Department director.

The education effort was being made because city residents were throwing nonrecyclable items into recycling bins, which cost the city $60 per ton and $29,819.40 in fees last year.

After Gov. Roy Cooper issued his stay-at-home on March 27, the Public Works Department anticipated an increase in household waste, and announced through CodeRed and on its website that it would collect trash only if it can be picked up without workers having to do so by hand, Armstrong said.

Lawn waste should be discarded using the green container, and workers are limiting contact in disposal, he said. They are relying on trucks to empty trash mechanically, he said.

“We have seen our tonnage go up,” he said.

Two weeks after the stay-at-home order went into effect, the Public Works Department saw a more than 75% increase in residential garbage tonnage, he said. Spring cleaning and online orders placed by residents stuck at home contributed to that increase.

“We don’t anticipate going back to recycling until the governor gives clearance from Phase I into Phase II,” Armstrong said.

He anticipates that to be in June or July.

Trash also is piling up at the county’s 21 collection sites, and the assistant director of Solid Waste is asking for people to be patient.

“The sites are filling up faster,” Kristina Locklear-Cummings said. “We’re just asking people to be patient with us.”

Drivers who haul the trash to the landfill are working to keep up with the growing piles of trash, she said. Trucks arrive at the collection sites after a site monitor calls them. And there has been an uptick in the frequency of trips to the landfill.

Information was not available on the increased quantity of trash collected.

The Solid Waste department is operating on regular schedule, and residents from other counties operating limited schedules are paying to dispose of trash at the county’s landfill, Locklear-Cummings said. Many Cumberland County residents are among them.

“They’re bringing it to the landfill, and they’re paying to throw their trash away,” she said.

Residents outside the county cannot use the county’s collection sites, Locklear-Cummings said.

The department has not issued more tickets for littering during the pandemic, Locklear-Cummings said. But, she’s received reports of masks and gloves discarded in parking lots and roadways in the county.

“Don’t throw your masks and gloves out on the side of the road or parking lots,” she said. “Put them in the trash can.”

Solid Waste also is collecting trash usually picked up by the N.C. Department of Transportation, she said. The department temporarily stopped trash pick-up services because of the pandemic.

Locklear-Cummings
https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/web1_Locklear-Cummings.jpgLocklear-Cummings

Armstrong
https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/web1_rob-armstrong.jpgArmstrong

Jessica Horne

Staff writer

Reach Jessica Horne at 910-416-5165 or via email at [email protected].