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From YouTube: Recycling During Covid 19 Impacts and Solutions
Description
Guest speakers representing City, County, and nonprofit recycling initiatives discuss the impact the pandemic had on the local recycling system, how they met challenges, and what the future of recycling looks like in Charlotte.
A
A
So
our
panelists
are
representing
county
city
and
non-profit
perspectives
on
recycling
challenges.
During
a
global
pandemic
tonight
we'll
hear
from
jeff
smithberger
the
director
of
mecklenburg
county's
solid
waste,
then
we
will
hear
from
erica
wiley
the
community
relations
specialist
for
charlotte's,
solid
waste
services
and
then
to
wrap
us
up
for
the
night,
we'll
hear
from
daniel
heaton,
who
is
an
independent
consultant
with
envision
charlotte
in
terms
of
the
structure
for
the
evening,
we'll
have
those
three
presentations
and
then,
after
those
presentations
we'll
be
doing
a
question
answer
session.
C
D
We
call
that
recycling
right
and
then
a
little
bit
about
planning
for
our
futures.
So
next
slide
now,
when
we
talk
about
recycling,
you
know
we
want
you
to
recycle
often,
but
we
also
want
you
to
recycle
correctly.
But
what
does
recycling
mean
to
you
next
slide
and
I've
found
that
that
means
different
things
to
different
people.
So
when
you
think
about
recycling,
are
you
thinking
about
yard,
waste
and
trees?
D
Are
you
thinking
about
tires?
How
about
concrete
asphalt?
Shingles,
maybe
not
maybe
you're
thinking
about
the
stuff
on
the
right
hand,
side
of
the
page,
which
is
only
bottles
and
cans
and
newspaper
and
cardboard,
but
when
I
think
about
recycling,
I'm
thinking
about
all
of
these
things
from
mecklenburg
county,
not
just
the
easy
stuff
that
you
might
do
at
the
curb
side,
but
everything
within
our
system.
So
next
slide.
D
So
we
divert
a
lot
of
non-traditional
recycling.
We
divert
and
recycle
over
20
000
tons
of
concrete
a
year.
We
do
about
14
000
tons
of
drywall.
We
do
about
24
000
tons
of
tires.
We
recycle
six
tractor
trailer
loads
of
tires
a
week
in
mecklenburg
county.
We
also
do
appliances
and
metal.
You
know
those
are
things
like
refrigerators
and
stoves
and
dishwashers,
computers
and
electronics.
D
So
we
have
a
lot
of
things
that
we
collectively
recycle
as
recycling
stuff
next
slide.
But
many
of
you
probably
want
to
talk
about
what
happened
during
the
pandemic.
Well,
during
the
pandemic,
our
numbers
grew.
They
grew
a
lot
from
the
first
time
that
the
economic
stimulus
checks
came
out.
We
found
that
people
were
replacing
mattresses,
why,
I
guess
they're
staying
at
home
and
sleeping
more,
but
we
got
about
35
more
mattresses
than
we
normally
see.
We
got
more
tires
and
we
got
lots
more
television
sets.
Basically
the
visits
to
our
full
service.
D
Centers
grew
a
lot
and
when
I
say,
grew
a
lot.
That
means
the
number
of
people
that
showed
up
to
visit
us
at
our
full
service.
Centers
grew
from
648
000
people
in
fy,
20
to
840
000
in
21,
and
we're
continuing
to
grow
now
last
month
was
our
first
month
where
we
did
not
see
a
double
digit
growth
in
the
number
of
people
coming
to
visit,
mecklenburg,
county,
full-service
centers.
D
As
I
said,
more
people
stayed
home
and
they
generated
a
lot
more
residential
waste,
but,
conversely,
fewer
people
were
going
into
the
office
every
day,
so
that
meant
less
commercial
waste.
Our
total
waste
stream
did
not
increase
that
much,
but
the
places
that
people
were
doing
it
did
change
from
being
about
50,
residential
and
50
commercial
to
dramatically
more
like
70
percent
residential
and
much
less
commercial.
D
Now
we
did
have
issues
with
yard
waste
collection
early
on.
Why?
Well,
if
you
think
about
how
trash
gets
collected,
you're
recycling
and
your
traditional
trash
get
picked
up
by
a
one
arm
bandit
on
the
side
of
a
truck.
That
means
there's
one
operator
in
the
truck:
that's
controlling
that,
but
yard
waste
traditionally
takes
anywhere
from
two
to
three
people.
D
That
means
that
those
two
or
three
people
have
to
ride
together
in
a
truck
in
the
early
days
of
the
pandemic,
we
were
all
fearful
over
having
people
ride
together
in
trucks,
so
that
meant
that
the
yard
waste
in
many
times
was
suspended
and
not
collected.
That
meant
more
people
were
bringing
yard
waste
to
my
facilities,
and
that
also
meant
that
some
yard
waste
was
piling
up
at
the
curbside.
D
Now
we
also
had
trouble
filling
critical
jobs.
This
is
still
an
issue
for
us.
It
is
hard
to
find
folks
that
have
commercial
driving
licenses
that
want
to
drive
large
commercial
class
8
trucks
to
pick
up
yard,
waste,
recycling
and
other
trash
next
question
next
slide,
not
necessarily
question,
but
we
had
a
big
growth
in
yard
waste
in
trees.
Our
yard
waste
grew
from
about
131
000
tons
to
144
000
tons.
Now
some
of
this
was
people
just
staying
home
and
clearing
up
stuff
that
they
had
around
their
lots
on
their
homes.
Next
slide.
D
D
Our
numbers
are
about
3
percent
higher
trending
this
year
than
they
were
for
21,
so
things
are
still
going
up,
but
recycled
materials,
287
000
landfill
materials,
579
total
tons
about
870
000..
We
are
approaching
more
people
moving
into
our
community.
Some
of
this
is
due
to
more
people,
some
of
it's
due
to
the
fact
that
they
stayed
home
and
they
cleaned
out
those
rooms
they
cleaned
out
the
garage
they
cleaned
out,
the
attic
in
the
basement
and
other
places
that
they
had
time
to
clean.
D
D
We
have
maintained
a
strong
recycling
system
here.
There
are
many
communities
that
abandoned
recycling
during
the
pandemic,
the
material
processing
facilities
where
they
were
processing
materials
shut
down
many
times
they
couldn't
find
enough
drivers.
If
you
look
in
the
literature
and
I'm
not
going
to
name
any
localities
out
tonight,
but
all
of
mecklenburg
county
continue
to
recycle
many
of
the
surrounding
communities
around
here
and
across
the
united
states
did
not.
D
We
still
offer
our
processing
capacity
to
folks
outside
of
mecklenburg
county
and
we
process
about
20,
000,
tons
of
bottles
and
cans
and
other
commingled
recycling
from
our
surrounding
communities,
for
a
total
of
almost
100
000
tons
processed
annually
at
our
material
recovery
facility.
Now
we
do
have
a
large
retrofit
of
our
murph
in
the
works.
Progress
has
slowed
a
little
bit
due
to
supply
chain
issues
and
covid,
but
we
expect
to
pay
about
10
million
dollars
to
significantly
retrofit
our
murph
in
the
next
12
months.
D
D
I'm
sure
we'll
talk
about
that,
but
there
are
some
niche
things
that
can
be
done
in
recycling
markets,
but
when
I'm
looking
at
recycling
collection
for
the
490
000
homes
in
this
community,
we
are
at
the
mercy
of
what
manufacturers
make
products
out
of
and
many
times
they
make
recycled.
I'm
sorry
they
make
products
that
just
aren't
able
to
be
recycled.
D
If
there's
not
a
market
for
me,
then
I
generally
can't
find
a
way
to
recycle
it.
Next
one,
our
end-use
products
need
to
be
clean.
Now,
it's
hard
to
accomplish
with
a
lot
of
our
incoming
materials
being
contaminated
annually.
Contaminated
materials
cost
their
program
about
1.9
1.8
to
1.9
million
dollars
a
year,
and
that's
why
we
have
a
robust
program
to
provide
education
to
residents
and
businesses
that
use
our
recycling
facilities
next
slide.
D
We
have
a
lot
of
outreach
to
residents
and
businesses.
Maitri
meyer
is
on
the
the
the
call
tonight
and-
and
she
is
our
primary
educator-
that
we
have.
We
had
a
webinar
today
at
noon,
to
celebrate
america
recycles
day.
We
also
have
webinars
at
least
once
monthly,
to
try
to
educate
residents
and
businesses
about
the
way
to
correctly
recycle
in
mecklenburg
county
next
slide.
D
D
D
D
D
It
gives
you
all
of
the
information
about
the
services,
the
things
that
we
offer.
There
are
videos
and
cool
tools
that
are
up
there.
There
are
downloadable
things
that
can
be
printed
off
for
churches
and
for
businesses
and
for
schools,
and
so
you
don't
have
to
rely
upon
us
to
physically
get
you
a
hard
copy
of
something.
You
now
have
the
ability
to
reach
out
and
do
that
yourself.
Next
slide.
D
We
got
a
little
bit
of
a
future
in
mecklenburg
county
we've
been
around
for
several
hundred
years
and
we're
planning
on
staying
several
more
hundred
years
in
the
future
and
we'll
be
retrofitting
our
murph
to
allow
more
items
to
be
sorted
and
hopefully
at
a
lower
cost.
The
lower
cost
comes
in
because
we're
going
to
start
relying
more
on
robotics
to
sort
things
rather
than
people.
D
In
many
instances
we
have
a
lot
of
people
that
are
actually
hand
sorting
things
at
our
murf,
we're
looking
at
new
technologies
to
enhance
our
program
and
looking
at
possibly
trying
to
find
mechanisms
to
sort
out
some
other
non-recyclable
things
that
we
haven't
been
able
to
sort
in
the
past,
and
so
that
is
our
ultimate
goal
is
to
be
able
to
recycle
more
efficiently
and
more
products.
Next
slide,
lower.
D
There
we
go
we're
going
to
have
to
investigate
and
implement
these
new
technologies.
The
county
board
of
commissioners
has
established
an
environmental
leadership
policy
where
it
talks
about
the
things
that
our
community
will
do
from
the
standpoint
of
the
elected
officials.
We
still
want
to
work
with
manufacturers
to
make
traditional
products
easier
to
recycle
if
they
made
some
things
out
of
high
density,
polyethylene
and
p-e-t
materials
that
are
plastic
instead
of
some
of
the
stranger
compounds
that
they
make
them
out
of.
D
That
pretty
much
ends
my
my
quick
15
minute
discussion
of
of
how
pandemic
affected
us.
You
can
always
reach
us
by
emailing
us
at
solid
waste,
mechnc.gov
visiting
our
website
at
wipeoutways.com
and
we're
here
to
serve
the
community.
Thank
you
very
much.
I
don't
know
if
you
want
to
take
questions
now
laura
or
wait
for
a
few
minutes.
A
A
B
Everyone
I'm
erica
wiley
with
the
city
of
charlotte,
solid
waste
services,
I'm
the
community
relations
specialist
for
solid
waste
services.
I've
been
with
the
city
for
five
years,
and
I
what
I
do
is
I
work
with
the
communities
of
solid
of
charlotte.
Excuse
me.
I
work
with
the
communities
of
charlotte.
I
work
with
the
hoas
and
the
presidents
and
with
throughout
the
city
with
any
issues
that
they
may
have
in
the
neighborhood.
B
B
We're
going
to
talk
about
recycling,
doing
the
pandemic
and,
as
jeff
has
said,
recycling
did
kind
of
change
for
as
far
as
collection,
we
did
see
a
lot
of
a
pickup
of
recycled
during
the
pandemic,
as
everyone's
received
their
stimulus
check.
If
everyone
stayed
at
home,
they
couldn't
have
the
claws,
the
attics,
the
garage
they
cleaned
up,
many
things.
So
many
of
those
things
were
at
the
curb,
but
by
putting
those
things
at
the
curb,
a
lot
of
people
did
not
know
what
they
could
and
could
not
recycle.
B
Excuse
me,
let
me
tell
you
a
little
bit
about
recycling.
Excuse
me
for
solid
waste
services.
Many
don't
know
this
recycling.
This
is
contracted
out
through
waste
management
we
collect
200
and
223
000
curbside
units
weekly.
We
also
service
140,
000
multi-family
units
and
we
collect
on
51
000
tons
of
recycling.
B
B
B
B
We
did
see
a
lot
of
paper
plates
and
napkins
a
lot
of
take
out
food
and
four
years
for
your
wrapping.
We
had
a
lot
of
since
everyone
was
home.
We
also
experienced
a
lot
of
cars
being
parked
on
the
street
during
cover.
We
still
face
that
as
we
speak
today,
so
about
everyone's
being
home.
We
have
a
hard
time
collecting
we
have
to
maneuver
through
tight
roads
throughout
the
city,
and
the
city
has
not
stopped
growing.
B
Folks
are
still
moving
here.
So
a
lot
of
them
don't
understand
coming
from
different
cities.
They
don't
understand
the
difference
when
they
move
that
what
they
can
and
cannot
recycle.
So
with
that,
we
came
up
with
a
plan
that,
like
we
already
had,
these
are
some
of
the
pictures
of
the
things
that
we
face
out
there.
Here
you
see,
we
have
a
fan
of
this
and
a
recycling
cart.
B
B
B
We
come
across
a
neighborhood,
that's
highly
contaminated,
we'll
reach
out
to
the
neighbors.
In
that
area.
We
reach
out
to
the
hoa
the
presidents
to
try
to
get
to
try
to
explain
to
them
and
educate
them.
We'll
do
mailings,
we
partnered
with
the
hoa
just
so
they
can
send
out
something
just
let
them
know
hey.
This
is
what
we
notice
in
your
area,
and
these
are
the
things
that
you
need
to
do.
We
sent
our
next
door
messaging,
we
did
social
media
and
we
actually
tagged
cards
just
to
let
them
know
hey.
B
This
is
what's
incorrect
and
if
you
correct
can
correct
it
before
your
next
collection
day.
It's
even
to
the
point.
We
give
our
notice
several
times
when
we're
recycling.
If
it's
incorrect,
they
are
unable
to
collect
it.
So
we
do
have
to
leave
a
lot
of
things
at
the
curb.
If
it's
incorrect,
we
cannot
take
it
to
the
recycling
center,
but
we
try
to
work
with
the
hoas
again
and
the
president
to
try
to
get
everyone
under
compliance.
B
B
Okay,
with
the
drivers
we
did
stagger
times,
we
made
sure
they
had
everything
to
sanitize
while
they
were
out
in
their
trucks,
because
if
they
have
to
get
out
the
truck
and
to
touch
the
carts,
we
had
to
make
sure
that
they
had
everything
for
their
sanitation.
We
extended
their
medical
leave,
we
had
on-site
vaccination.
B
And
we
did
all
this
just
to
ensure
that
the
employees
deliver
quality
service
with
minimal
contact
with
materials
at
the
curb
to
ensure
safety
for
employees
and
residents.
So
we've
taken
that
and
all
that
the
cdc
have
said
and
so
for
future
we've
come
up
with
a
plan
that
will
work
if
we
ever
in
this
situation
again.
B
At
curb
charlottency.gov,
you
can
look
up
your
collection
day
in
color.
You
can
look
up
about
bulky
collection
to
collect
those
household
items
to
you
can
also
order
additional
carts.
If
you
find
that
now
that
you're
home
you're
producing
more
waste,
you
can
order
an
additional
card.
You
have.
We
have
a
recycling
education
in
the
calendar
as
well.
We
also
have
you
can
test
your
recycle
knowledge
there.
You
will
find
the
wipeout
game
as
well
the
race
wizard,
where
you
can
try
to
see
if
those
items
belong
in
that
cart.
C
E
D
E
Present
mode
okay,
so
I
am
daniel
heaton.
I
am
with
envision
charlotte,
which
is
a
nonprofit
here
in
charlotte,
dedicated
to
sustainable
initiatives
and
serving
as
kind
of
the
sustainable
arm
of
the
city,
but,
more
importantly,
and
more
recently
championing
the
circular
charlotte
initiative,
which
I'll
get
into
a
little
bit
later
for
the
city
at
the
easiest
sense
of
the
speakers.
E
What
we
learned
is
that
we
are
not
doing
so
well,
we
are
recycling
less
than
the
national
average.
We've
got
a
lot
of
our
waste
going
to
landfill,
and
a
lot
of
that
is
because
of
the
challenges
you've
heard
today
pandemic
or
not,
but
mostly
we've
got
a
problem
with
recycling
incorrectly
or
sending
to
landfill
stuff
that
we
have
systems
to
recycle.
E
E
On
the
large
material
or
the
large
quantity
problems
such
as
textiles
or
organic
food
waste,
but
others
focus
on
the
educational
piece
of
bringing
you
know,
more
awareness
and
more
education
to
the
problem,
and
that
is
what
I'm
in
right
now,
which
is
the
innovation
center
or
innovation
barn.
The
innovation
center
is
one
of
the
business
cases,
but
the
innovation
barn
is
a
business
incubator
and
a
innovation
center
for
educating
the
public
on
what
technologies
exist.
What
technologies
don't
exist,
what
waste
challenges
we
have
and
finding
solutions
for
those
problems.
E
The
innovation
barn
after
several
years
and
trying
to
open
up
in
the
middle
of
a
pandemic
is
finally
open
to
the
public.
It's
located
at
932,
siegel
avenue
in
between
the
belmont
neighborhood
and
plaza
midwood,
or
directly
in
the
belmont
neighborhood
next,
to
plaza
midwood,
but
in
the
innovation,
barn.
There's
a
lot
of
awesome
programs
and
innovations
and
initiatives
dedicated
to
zero
waste
and
educating
the
public
on
what
the
circular
economy
is
and
how
we
can
get
to
a
zero
waste
city.
A
E
E
We
have
a
business
incubator,
a
large
4
500
square
foot
space
that
starting
next
year
will
be
accepting
applications
for
entrepreneurs
and
innovators
to
bring
their
ideas
and
under
one
roof
solution
some
of
our
waste
challenges.
So
if
you
have
a
creative
idea
on
how
to
repurpose
construction,
demolition,
waste
or
textiles
or
denims
or
stuff,
that's
traditionally
going,
maybe
down
cycled
or
to
the
landfill,
we
can
give
you
space
and
support
here
at
the
innovation
barn
for
solving
those
problems.
E
We
have
a
really
neat
soldier
fly
composting
facility,
that's
currently
in
the
proof
of
concept
phase
or
in
the
kind
of
scale
phase
where
flies
mate.
They
lay
eggs
or
pre-pupa
that
larvae
eats
organic
food
waste
and
then,
after
that,
it
can
either
turn
into
a
new
fly
or
it
can
be
diverted
or
captured
in
order
to
see
chicken
or
fish.
E
So
we
have,
through
the
re-pour
our
tap
room
and
the
teaching
kitchen
here
at
the
innovation
barn,
an
opportunity
for
the
public
to
take
fish
or
or
leafy
greens
from
the
aquaponics
area
have
a
meal
take
their
food
waste
to
the
soldier.
Fly
composting
pick
up
some
larvae
on
the
way
back,
feed
the
fish
in
the
aquaponics
lab
and
see
that
circular,
zero
waste
effort,
real
time
and
physically
intangibly
touch
it
and
experience
it
similar
to
discovery
place.
E
I
won't
highlight
them
all,
but
one
just
just
as
an
example:
carolina
urban
lumber
as
they're
milling
their
wood
from
the
trees
they're
producing
a
lot
of
sawdust
that
sawdust
can
be
used
to
grow
mushrooms
in
our
shipping
containers
that
we're
growing
mushrooms
or
provide
a
nice
warm
cozy
bed
for
the
larvae
to
eat.
The
organic
food
waste
in
the
soldier
fly
composting
facility.
E
So
all
of
these
interconnected
redesigned
systems
are
showcased
here
at
the
innovation
barn,
which
takes
solid
waste
from
the
community
and
turns
them
into
either
products
or
feedstock
for
one
another
in
order
to
to
function
successfully
and
then
in
the
perfect
circular
economy
role.
Those
products
once
used
instead
of
going
to
landfill,
are
reintroduced
back
into
the
circular
economy.
Over
and
over
and
over
again
similar
to
nature
a
tree
grows.
E
So
a
bottle
turns
a
bottle,
turns
a
bottle
turns
into
a
bottle
versus
a
recycled
economy
where
the
bottle
turns
into
a
t-shirt
which
turns
into
trash
or
nothing
against
rothy
shoes,
but
plastic
goes
into
plastic,
fibers
or
regrind
or
repurpose
fibers.
That
get
then
gets
made
into
textiles,
which
then
potentially
can
be
thrown
away
unless
that
textile
is
captured
over
and
over
and
over
again
and
mechanically
recycled.
E
Ultimately,
the
goal
is
to
have
a
circular
economy
where
bottle
turns
into
a
bottle
turns
into
a
bottle
or
tree
becomes.
A
treaty
becomes
a
tree
so
as
it
relates
to
the
pandemic,
I
want
to
focus
on
one
particular
room,
the
room
that
I'm
actually
in,
as
proven
by
the
picture.
In
my
backdrop,
and
that's
the
plastic
slab
here
at
the
animation
mark,
the
plastics
lab
is
formulated
after
or
or
built
after
model.
E
Doctors
well
precious
plastics,
which
is
an
open
source,
lab
or
experiment,
or
idea
based
out
of
europe,
which
takes
machinery
that
you
can
build
with
the
proper
skill
sets
and
tools,
and
it
takes
waste
plastics,
grinds
them
and
extrudes
them.
Molds
them
injects
them
into
new
and
exciting
products,
providing
entrepreneurship
opportunities
for
students
for
citizens,
for
the
diy-er
or
just
a
curious
public.
E
It's
extremely
scalable,
taking
multiple
machines
or
larger
machines,
or
or
growing
it
at
scale.
In
order
to
solve
a
lot
of
problems
that
we
face
in
the
plastics
space,
we
as
we
were
building
out
the
innovation
barn.
We
always
had
this
idea
for
a
first
plastics
lab
and
we're
really
excited
about,
but
we
were
going
at
the
pace
of
construction,
but
then
the
pandemic
had-
and
we
got
calls
from
both
city
and
county
saying
we
need
a
problem
or
we
have
a
problem
with
take
out
food
containers,
specifically
everyone's
eating
at
home.
E
E
E
He
has
systems
and
machines
that
can
sort
those
out,
but
you
throw
in
some
takeout
food
containers
you
throw
in
some
plastic
bags
you
throw
in
a
box
fan,
as
erica
pointed
out.
You
start
to
get
these
contaminations
and
it
reduces
his
economics
and
ability
to
sell
at
the
value
that
he
needs
to
sell
it
at
no
different
from
takeout
food
containers.
They
are
not
recyclable
in
mac.
E
Lumber
accounting
do
not
put
them
in
your
green
curbside
then,
but
if
you
can
have
a
lab
like
this
and
separate
them
without
labels
or
food
contamination
and
keep
them
all
number
five
and
nothing
else,
then
you
can
actually
do
something
with
them.
So
the
pandemic
forced
us
to
act
on
this
lab
sooner
because
of
these
takeout
coups.
So
what
we
started
doing
is
taking
these
takeout
food
containers
and
through
this
process
outlined
on
this
slide,
we
would
shred
them
into
flake
extrude
them
into
a
long.
E
What
looked
like
a
spaghetti,
noodle
and
spool
them
into
3d
printer
filament?
We
could
then
take
that
3d
printer
filament
and
either
3d
print
a
personal,
protective
equipment,
visor
or
any
type
of
plastic
product
with
the
3d
printer,
or
we
could
pelletize
it
and
send
it
to
an
injection
molder.
You
could
do
the
exact
same
thing
just
at
a
higher
quantity
or
could
injection
mold
a
host
of
other
products,
so
that
was
accelerated
because
of
the
pandemic
and
solving
the
takeout
food
container
problem.
E
This
is
our
volunteer
inaction
massed
up
keeping
as
much
distance
as
possible
early
on
in
the
pandemic,
but
bottom
left
is
an
example
of
the
take
out
food
containers
that
we
were
getting
from
southminster
retirement
community,
where
they
had
600
residents,
eating
two
meals
per
day.
All
out
of
these
takeout
food
containers
and
all
you
know
ultimately
going
to
the
trash.
E
If
we
weren't
to
accelerate
this
program
at
our
plastic
lab
and
this
filabot
machinery,
the
flaker
regrind
on
the
right
is
what
you
can
ultimately
do
a
lot
with
and
take
multiple
different
paths,
but
getting
it
down
to
that
form
in
a
non-contaminated
fashion.
Is
the
biggest
challenge
small
scale
or
large
scale,
one
exciting
program
that
I'm
super
pumped
about,
and
it's
it's
very
new
in
the
works.
E
But
it's
because
of
these
takeout
food
containers
because
of
the
pandemic,
and
just
because
of
the
current
state
of
of
affairs
for
recycling
overall
is
a
partnership
with
providence
day
school
so
providence
day.
School
had
a
lot
of
these
take
out
food
containers
and
their
students
were
really
passionate
about
keeping
them
out
of
landfill,
so
they
once
started
diverting
them
here
to
the
innovation
barn
where
we
were
shredding
it.
But
then
they
took
it
one
step
further
and
they
found
a
grant
and
applied
for
a
grant
to
get
these
brick
molds.
E
I
would
pick
them
up,
but
they're
extremely
heavy.
I
don't
want
to
drop
my
laptop
right
now,
but
using
the
equipment
that
you
see
in
the
bottom
left
with
the
extruder
and
the
brick
mold.
We
can
create
these
three
pound
lego
style,
bricks
that
can
replace
cinder,
block
construction
or
traditional
stud
and
frame
construction
and
can
be
used
to
not
only
divert
waste
but
to
provide
a
very
educational
showpiece
for
plastic
reuse
as
well
as
sheds
for
schools
or
storage
areas
or
tiny
homes
for
the
homeless
community.
E
You
can
do
a
lot
of
innovative
stuff
with
this
recycled
repurposed
plastic.
Now
it's
only
a
circular
economy.
If
that
brick
goes
back
to
the
shredder
once
it's
done,
but
the
education
piece
is
exceptionally
valuable
on
keeping
it
out
of
traditional
curbside
bins
and
keeping
that
contamination
separate.
E
We
also
have
some
molds
coming
with
our
extruder
to
make
lumber
or
alternative
lumber
that
you
see
in
trex
furniture
or
the
park
bench
picture
here.
So
we're
really
excited
to
experiment
with
that
and
start
making
things
out
of
these
waste
plastics
from
schools,
retirement
communities
and
the
general
public
using
our
drop-offs
and
then
lastly,
in
the
circular
economy.
E
Another
program
that
we
ran
or
or
built
out
because
of
the
pandemic,
and
just
because
of
general
desire
to
go
to
a
circular
economy
or
go
to
a
zero
waste,
is
we
have
all
these
partners
that
either
have
sustainability
goals
or
have
a
desire
to
to
reduce
their
their
impact
to
the
landfill
charlotte
motor
speedway,
being
no
exceptions
so
at
the
charlotte
motor
speedway
envision
charlotte
redesigned
all
987
bins.
It
was
close
to
that
number,
but
redesigned
all
the
bends
and
actually
got
rid
of
the
word
that
we're
celebrating
today
recycle
this.
E
So
that's
plastic
pep
and
aluminum
cans
that
aren't
going
downstream
to
a
recycler
or
aren't
you
know
at
risk
of
going
to
the
landfill
because
of
contamination
they're
going
directly
back
into
what
they
were
once
made
into
and
because
of
that
contamination
free.
Just
to
reiterate,
the
contamination
is
the
biggest
problem
right
now,
the
more
and
more
or
the
less
and
less
contamination
that
you
have.
The
more
and
more.
Your
value
of
that
product
grows
so
on
the
left.
E
E
E
E
So
it's
been
said
multiple
times,
I'm
only
going
to
reiterate
quickly,
but
how
you
can
make
an
impact
is
to
recycle
correctly
when
in
doubt
and
I've
bolted.
It
third
bullet
point
there
when
in
doubt
throw
it
away.
I've
got
a
couple
pictures
there,
showing
what
we
see
with
our
take
out
food
containers.
E
Our
takeout
food
container
collections
says
very
clear
and
massive
thought
and
bright
lettering.
Number
five
take
out
containers
only
no
stickers,
no
labels,
no
food,
but
yet
in
the
bottom
picture,
there's
medicine
containers,
there's
number
six
clam
shells,
there's
shampoo
bottles,
there's
contamination
that
really
hurts
our
economics,
because
we
are
a
small
operation.
E
We
do
not
have
the
technology
that
that
jeff
has
so
if
you're,
contaminating
the
little
guy-
and
you
know-
and
the
big
guy
has
a
contamination
product
contamination
is-
is
the
absolute
worst
you're
much
better
off
for
your
community
for
the
recycling
efforts
for
the
recycling
economy,
of
the
u.s
and
beyond
the
environment.
If
you
just
recycle
correctly
and
throw
away
something,
that's
not
being
asked
for,
we
are
not
collecting
anything
that
we
can't
sell
and
move
on
to
new
things
same
with.
E
Lastly,
I'll
just
throw
a
little
a
little
nugget
or
a
little
teaser.
We
are
working.
We
worked
on
a
pilot
program
during
the
pandemic.
It
was
kind
of
polls
during
the
pandemic
because
of
the
pandemic,
but
this
is
smart
c
recycling
and
this
is
an
attempt
to
source
separate
valuable
material
in
order
to
reduce
or
eliminate
contamination.
E
The
way
this
program
worked
is
we
delivered
these
bags
to
250
residents.
They
filled
one
bag
with
fully
aluminum
cans
when
they
had
them,
and
one
bag
with
only
peg
bottles
plastic
bottles
with
necks
when
they
had
them
when
it
was
full,
they
scanned
using
an
app.
We
dynamically
routed,
a
truck
to
go
pick
it
up
and
we
immediately
bailed
them
and
process
them
on
site
and
send
them
directly
to
the
processors
that
made
new
bottles
and
cans
for
coke
consolidated.
E
This
is
a
program
where,
if
you
contaminated
the
bags,
we
kicked
you
out
of
the
program
immediately,
so
we
got
the
best
of
the
best.
We
got
zero
contamination
material
and
something
like
this,
albeit
at
a
much
scaled
up
level
we
believe,
is
where
recycling
is
heading
eventually
because
of
the
economics
prior
or
previously
mentioned
by
by
all
three
presenters
tonight.
So
look
out
for
this
as
we
hopefully
bring
it
back
and
scale
it
throughout
charlotte,
charlotte.
E
C
Oh,
do
you
want
me
to
answer
tyler's
questions
live
that
are
in
the
chat,
sure,
okay,
so
one
of
our
participants
asked
a
couple
questions
in
the
chat.
The
first
one
is:
do
bottle
caps
cause
contamination,
or
are
they
able
to
be
easily
separated?
The
answer
to
your
question
is:
they
are
not
separated
bottle
caps.
You
can
do
one
of
two
things
you
can
make
sure
they
are
tight
on
the
bottle
that
you
want
to
be
recycled
and
they
go
through
the
process
with
everything
else.
C
They
get
bailed
with
the
rest
of
the
bottle
or
you
can
take
it
off
and
throw
it
into
the
garbage
can,
but
it
is
very
important
that
they
are
not
separated,
because
if
I
forgot
that
I
didn't
have
my
video
on
sorry
about
that,
if
they
are
separated,
they
end
up
falling
through
screens
that
we're
using
to
separate
the
broken
glass
and
they
end
up
contaminating
the
glass
vial.
So
loose
bottle.
Caps
are
a
big
problem.
C
E
It
can
I
can
I
tag
onto
that.
Real
quick,
my
tree
so,
and-
and
this
is
not
to
confuse
this-
is
merely
to
enlighten
on
another
process
that
we're
working
on.
With
regards
to
the
exact
same
question,
a
bottle,
that's
brought
to
the
innovation.
Barn
is
bailed,
just
like
at
the
material
recovery
facilities
that
my
tree's
speaking
of
and
that
just
operates,
but
because
we
have
a
zero
contamination
process.
E
The
caps
are
actually
polypropylene
which
float
versus
cet,
which
sinks
and
through
a
water
bath
separation,
they
can
actually
separate
the
caps
and
separate
the
bottles
and
they
can
have
pure
polypropylene
flake,
and
they
can
have
pure
pet
flake
for
making
new
bottles.
So
just
to
give
you
an
example
of
how
kind
of
recycling
works
on
both
small
and
large
scale,
but
when
someone
like
the
county
is
processing
so
many
more
tons,
and
so
many
more
different
materials
and
products,
those
caps
can
be,
can
be
tricky
for
their
systems.
C
Absolutely
I
think,
our
reprocessors
everywhere
that
we
sell
our
bales
do
the
exact
same
thing.
That's
why
we
say
you
can
leave
them
on
or
you
can
throw
them
away.
But
if
they're
loose
in
there
they're
going
to
end
up
in
the
glass,
so
they
will
end
up
ultimately
being
separated,
just
not
at
the
collection
point
or
at
the
processing
in
mecklenburg
county
where
they
sort
things.
C
Sure:
okay,
where
is
yard
waste
taken,
and
is
it
checked
for
contamination,
so
city
of
charlotte's,
huntersville,
ballentine,
mint
hill?
Whoever
collects
your
materials
can
decide
what
they
want
to
do
with
your
garbage,
your
recycling,
your
yard
waste,
but
in
the
city
of
charlotte
and
in
mecklenburg
county,
your
yard
waste
is
picked
up
by
probably
the
city
of
charlotte
and
then
it's
taken
to
a
place
called
compost.
Central.
That's
another
facility
operated
by
jeff's
department
at
mecklenburg,
county,
solid
waste.
B
A
That
was
one
of
the
questions
that
I've
gotten
a
lot
from
people
is
just
throughout
the
fall
season.
We've
seen
the
leaves
getting
collected
and,
for
the
most
part,
I've
seen
a
lot
of
paper
bags,
but
I
also
keep
seeing
a
lot
of
the
same
plastic
ones.
So
I
was
wondering
like
how
much
success
you
would
say
that
there's
been
so
far
with
the
shift
to
paper
in.
B
B
But
now,
as
we
speak
of
today,
we
have
a
few-
it's
not
many.
We
did
have
some
buy
in
the
beginning,
but
now
we
are
on
the
road
we're
on
the
right
track.
We
do
have
some
residents
who
are
still
using
the
plastic
bags,
but
we
are
reaching
out
with
them
just
to
let
them
know
hey.
You
know
this
is
the
new
mandate
that
policy
that
was
put
into
place
and
you
can
be
it
is
defined.
It
is
attached
to
it,
but
so
far
so
good.
We
are
on
the
way.
E
Yes,
so
the
question
was:
does
carolina
urban
lumber
currently
work
with
any
arborist
companies
in
charlotte,
and
my
answer
was
yes
with
an
exclamation
point,
carolina
urban
lumber
partners
with
a
lot
of
tree
services
here
in
charlotte,
including
the
city
arborists
or
the
office
of
the
city
of
arboris,
to
do
to
divert
as
many
felled
trees
as
possible
from
being
wasted
short
story
on
when
a
tree
comes
down.
The
small
branches
and
limbs
usually
get
grinded
up
right.
E
But
carolina
urban
lumber
focuses
on
the
large
logs
and
trunks
of
the
tree
in
order
to
mill
them
at
the
highest
and
best
use
into
lumber,
slabs
and
even
use
them.
Now
they
just
made
available
their
carolina
urban
firewood
business
where
they're
using
every
single
part
of
the
tree
to
make
as
many
local
products
as
possible,
and
they
now
have
a
carolina
urban
firewood
business.
So
if
you
need
firewood
they
they
can
answer
that
too.
But
yes,
they
they
work
with
as
many
tree
services
and
the
city
arborists
to
to
do.
Just
that.
E
Yes,
so
the
mushroom
farm
is
being
built
out
right
now,
as
we
speak
there.
We
hope
to
be
growing
mushrooms
by
january
of
this
coming
january,
hopefully
by
year
end,
but
most
likely
january,
and
we
will
produce
mush
is
the
name
of
the
company
or
name
of
the
individual.
That's
running
that,
but
we
hope
to
produce
several
types
of
mushrooms,
some
of
which
will
grow
directly
on
waste
logs
or
logs
that
come
from
charlotte
trees.
A
And
then
well,
I've
still
got
you
daniel
and
then
I'll
leave
you
alone
for
a
minute.
I
was
going
to
ask.
I
heard
you
guys
you
and
jeff
talking
about
styrofoam
earlier
and
in
terms
of
styrofoam.
Are
there
any
initiatives
that
could
ever
be
possible
in
charlotte
in
terms
of
recycling
or
repair
repurposing.
E
Sure
so
styrofoam
is
a
tricky
one,
because
well
there's
two
types
of
of
polystyrene
number:
six
ps
plastic.
So
you
have
ps
plastic,
which
you
you
see
in
a
lot
of
flimsy
takeout,
food
containers
or
clam
shells
and
one
there's
not
really
a
market
for
that,
because
they're
they're
highly
contaminated
with
food.
E
E
E
If
you
think
about
emptying
a
package
that
you
you
get
and
you
get
all
these
loose
styrofoam
pieces,
it
one
is
really
lightweight
and
two
takes
up
a
lot
of
space
moving
that
around
and
sending
it
to
a
recycling
center
or
backhauling
it
as
a
company
or
as
a
as
a
manufacturer,
isn't
efficient
or
effective,
but
densifying
it
and
making
a
lot
of
styrofoam
into
a
really
small,
brick
or
package,
and
then
doing
something
with
it
has
some.
You
know
more
opportunities.
E
E
You
know
back
in
the
day
or
in
smaller
towns
you
might
go
to
a
recycling
center
or
it's
currently
at
the
self-service
centers
now
throughout
the
county.
But
your
glass
goes
here.
Your
plastic
bottles
go
here.
Your
aluminum
cams
go
here
instead
of
one
single
stream
location
going
back
to
that
or
going
to
that,
where
you
can
have
low
to
no
contamination,
and
then
you
can
have
a
greater
opportunity
to
have
a
higher
valued
material
to
then
sell
or
move
on
to.
E
E
We
have
not
the
level
that
I've
looked
into
that
when
you
think
about
what
you're
eating
you
know
you
are
what
you
eat.
You
know,
there's
a
big
discussion
about
microplastics
and
fish
eating
microplastics,
and
then
you
know
the
public
consuming
the
fish
that
eat
some
isoplastics
and
then
next
thing
you
know
you're
just
eating
a
plastic
fish
similar
to
that
you
know,
styrofoam
is,
is
plastic.
It's
it's
a
petroleum-based
product
and
if
you're
having
mealworms
eat
that
styrofoam
and
then
you're
turning
around
and
feeding
the
mealworms
to
fish
or
chicken
you're.
B
E
B
C
Yeah
so,
as
jeff
said,
we
receive
about
400
tons
of
recyclable
materials
per
day,
and
I
know
tons
makes
no
sense
to
anyone
unless
you're
in
the
industry.
So
just
so
you
know,
that's
like
55
to
60
truckloads
of
materials
that
are
being
collected
in
curbside
carts
by
your
cities
and
towns
are
being
dumped
on
our
material
recovery
floor.
C
We
need
everyone
to
prepare
those
materials
for
us
to
sort
them.
That
means
clean,
dry
empty
and
only
send
us
the
six
things
that
jeff
showed
and
take
the
recycle
right
presentation,
because
we'll
go
into
this
in
much
more
detail,
but
just
because
you
want
something
to
be
recycled
or
you
think
that
it's
recyclable
doesn't
mean
that
it
is
recyclable
at
mecklenburg,
county's
material
recovery
facility.
C
It
might
be
recyclable
in
sweden,
it
might
be
recyclable
in
west
virginia,
but
please
concentrate
on
only
the
six
categories
of
items
that
we
asked
to
be
put
in
the
curbside
carts.
You
can
recycle
plastic
bags
dry
cleaning
bags,
your
amazon
bubble,
wrap
pouches,
the
sealed
air
pouches
things
like
that
at
your
local
grocery
store
or
retailer
by
their
entrance,
but
please
don't
put
them
in
your
cart.
We
cannot
separate
those
and
we
do
not
have
a
way
to
to
keep
those
from
wrapping
around
our
machines.
C
So
you
can
recycle
some
things,
but
sometimes
you
need
to
bring
them
to
the
full-service
drop-off
site.
Sometimes
you
need
to
bring
them
to
your
grocery
store
and
only
those
six
things
can
go
in
your
residential
curbside
cart.
So
we
need
you
to
prepare
the
materials
properly
and
only
give
us
what
we
can
separate
and
resell.
E
C
B
And
if
you
ever
in
doubt,
you
can
always
visit
our
website.
That
would
be
my
takeaway,
if
you
ever
in
doubt
just
visit
our
website.
There's
plenty
of
educational
information
out
there
across
both
boards.
That
will
let
you
know
the
correct
items
and
if
not,
you
can
always
give
us
a
call
or
contact
311.
A
B
That
was
mine.
That
was
just
that's.
Okay,
oh
this
education,
if
you
ever
have
in
doubt,
like
I
said
just
always
visit
one
of
our
websites,
you
you
I'm
always
reachable
at
kerber,
charlotte
nc.
You
can
always
reach
me
there,
but
yes,
that's
my
biggest
takeaway.
If
you
ever
in
doubt
about
anything
that
needs
to
be
curbside,
just
always
give
us
a
call
visit
our
website.
B
E
Only
only
because
I'm
in
a
plastic
slab
right
now
I'll
focus
on
plastics
and
then
I'll,
let
everyone
go
and
the
green
curbside
bed
of
mecklenburg
county,
the
only
plastic
you
need
you
have
you
should
put
in.
There
are
plastic
bottles
with
necks,
that's
stuff,
you
drink
out
of
or
suck
you
pour
laundry
detergent
out
of,
but
it
most
likely
has
a
screw
cap
and
it
has
a
neck
to
it.
So
that's
no.
C
E
Containers,
that's
no
clam
shell,
salad
containers!
That's
no
plastic
sunglasses
that
you
got
at
community
fair,
it's
literally
just
plastic
bottles
with
necks.
Everything
else
needs
to
be
thrown
away.
If
it's
number
five
and
it's
super
clean
and
I'm
talking
super
clean,
you
can
bring
it
to
the
innovation
barn
and
we
can
make
something
cool
out
of
it,
but
other
than
that.
Just
just
throw
it
away.
Do
everyone?
Do
everyone
a
favor
and
and
just
throw
it
away?
Please,
and
thanks.