Some Beaufort Co. convenience centers may close for good. What to do with your trash
Beaufort County could close six area trash and recycling centers starting next year in an effort to save money, curtail traffic and encourage curbside pickups, county leaders suggested Tuesday.
In November 2015, County Council announced that every household would use a curbside pickup system for trash and recycling by 2020. That plan, which still hasn’t come to fruition, appears to be back in a revised form.
The proposal to close half of the county’s convenience centers and encourage the Town of Hilton Head Island to adopt curbside pickup was presented to the public facilities committee Tuesday.
Currently, many county residents have to drive to one of 11 convenience centers to dispose of their trash and recycling. Residents visited the centers to drop off glass, cardboard, old tires and batteries, among other items, over 1 million times last year.
But the 25-year-old convenience centers are too expensive to operate and lead to traffic, environmental and safety problems, according to the solid waste study, first presented to the county on Tuesday.
The study emphasized that convenience centers are primarily used in more rural areas. Residents within the town or city limits of Beaufort, Port Royal and Bluffton have curbside collection services.
The county solicited bids for curbside trash pickups in unincorporated parts of the county in 2018. Although several companies bid, the county’s Solid Waste and Recycling Board ultimately shot down the idea.
The plan is expected to go to council in the coming months, but county officials said they plan to solicit public input before any decisions are made.
Closures?
The county’s goal is to phase out, or at least lessen, the use of convenience centers to encourage curbside pickup.
Abby Goldsmith, principal of Goldsmith Resources LLC, presented eight recommendations on Tuesday to achieve this plan:
- Implement a decal system to prevent non-residents from dumping at convenience centers
- Limit the types of waste accepted at convenience centers
- Consolidate the smaller convenience centers
- Reduce convenience center operating hours
- Increase recycling efforts in the county
- Improve site conditions at convenience centers
- Revisit the agreement between Hilton Head and the county
The county’s 11 convenience centers — Hilton Head, Bluffton, Sheldon, Lobeco, Big Estate, Castle Rock Road, Shanklin Road, St. Helena, Cuffy Road, Coffin Point and Pritchardville — average over 5,000 daily visitors.
The county plans to close six of these centers: Pritchardville, Big Estate Road, Sheldon, Lobeco, Castle Rock Road and Cuffy Road starting next year.
“One approach to lower operating and capital costs, as well reducing reliance on convenience centers, is to offer fewer convenience center locations,” according to the report presented Tuesday to the county’s public facilities committee.
If those centers were to close, visitor traffic would be diverted to the next closest facility.
Unlike the other incorporated parts of the county, the Town of Hilton Head Island does not arrange curbside collection for all households.
Beaufort, Port Royal and Bluffton all pay for curbside pickup with user fees and property taxes, while the county pays for disposal with property taxes.
The report, presented to the public facilities committee, recommended that the county revisit its arrangement with Hilton Head to more closely align its services with the rest of the county.
Limiting waste
To reduce the amount of waste at convenience centers, the county also plans to limit the type of waste accepted at its sites.
The report recommends that the county ban construction and demolition debris or “bulky waste” at convenience centers.
In 2019, over 30 percent of the waste received at convenience centers and over one-third of the waste at the Bluffton and Shanklin sites was bulky waste — waste deemed too large to fit in normal trash bins, according to the report.
By banning construction and demolition debris, the county would reduce the amount of vehicle traffic at its busiest convenience centers, the report said.
However, the report says, banning types of solid waste at convenience centers has the potential to increase illegal disposal.
At Tuesday’s meeting, council members Mike Covert, Gerald Dawson and York Glover said they worried about an increase in illegal dumping if the county implemented the plan.
The report listed Barnwell Resources, Oakwood Landfill and Hickory Hill Landfill as legal alternatives to convenience centers that accept construction and demolition debris.
“However, because these facilities charge a tipping fee, while delivery to the convenience centers has been free, illegal disposal may still increase, especially immediately after C&D is prohibited,” the report said.
Able Contracting, a once 90-foot-tall recovered material processing facility that caught fire and attention from state and federal health agencies last summer, used to accept construction and demolition debris in Jasper County. During the environmental cleanup of the site, contractors hauled the smoking debris to the Oakwood and Hickory Hill landfills.
Whom does this affect?
Over 1.6 million people visited the area’s 11 convenience centers last year, according to Tuesday’s report, which noted that 20 percent of households in Beaufort County don’t have a curbside collection service.
More visitors come to the convenience centers on Thursday than any other day. Saturday and Tuesday are the next busiest.
The busiest locations: Hilton Head, Bluffton and St. Helena, according to the data.
The convenience centers received over 37,000 tons of household, yard and bulky waste last year, according to the report.
The report recommends the county begin closing convenience centers and limiting the types of waste accepted by 2021, but the county must approve the recommendations.
