What happens to trash in Henderson County after leaving it at the curb?

HENDERSONVILLE - Fun fact: When trash happens in Henderson County, it doesn't stay in Henderson County.

Where does it go? How much is collected per month and per year? How many employees work for Henderson County Solid Waste, and what about recycling?

Henderson County Engineer Marcus Jones and County Solid Waste Director Greg Wiggins answered all those questions and more as they gave the Times-News a tour of the Transfer Station, 191 Transfer Station Drive, on April 25. They explained how the trash is picked up from residents, how it's dropped off and what happens to the trash when it leaves the Transfer Station.

History of Hendersonville's dump

Standing at the two large sheds where trash is compacted, Wiggins pointed over to a large grass mound and said that was a part of Hendersonville's original dump, which first opened around 1960, he said. Wiggins said although trash is not put there anymore, the ground still has to be maintained.

"We spend a lot of time, a lot of resources and a lot of money to maintain it. Not many people know that," Wiggins said. "It was a pre-regulatory landfill with no liner. It was layers of trash with a daily cover."

The landfill was used up until 1995, Wiggins said, when the property was transformed into the Transfer Station.

"It's like a time capsule in there. There will be newspapers in there from 1980 that have been preserved. Then, there are other parts of it is just decomposed," he said.

Wiggins said from its base, the mound measures 200 feet in height.

What happens to trash at Transfer Station?

Beginning at daybreak, trash trucks head out to county homes and collect garbage and recycling materials, Jones said, and they charge approximately $30 per month. When they come to the Transfer Station, the trucks pull up to two large bays where the trash is crushed even more, he said.

Once compacted enough, the trash then falls through a hole under the bay and into long tractor trailers.

"The trailer is backed up under the pit, and the loader up top will push the trash into the hole in the floor. It drops down into the pit and into the truck," he said. "When we get the required load, which is 22 tons, we'll pull the trailer out of the pit and stage it."

Once the trailer is loaded, it is inspected at the next phase of the operation. If there is any trash sticking up or over the side of the trailer, it has to be compacted more to be inside the trailer, Wiggins said.

"We try to maintain the 22-ton average when these trucks go down the mountain," he said. "Some of the trash pops back up, so to make sure that doesn't happen, we have the loaders compact it more down in the trailers."

Where does the trash go from there?

Once the trailers' loads are approved, they make the 75-mile drive to a dump in Union, South Carolina, where the trash is offloaded, Jones said. He said it's about an hour-and-a-half drive from Hendersonville.

"The City of Hendersonville and all the other private haulers are our biggest customers," he said. "We try to make sure we help them out in their operations as best we can."

Trash can also be taken at the Convenience Center, which is adjacent to the Transfer Station, Jones said.

"That's where residents can come and drop off trash as well. We have a bag-for-bag program. As long as they bring equal amounts of trash to the recycling they bring, they're not charged. Of course, that's only Henderson County residents," Jones said.

By the numbers

120,000 - Tons of trash brought to the Transfer Station each year. Jones said that equates to 1 ton of trash per household per year. This is an increase of 5.1% from last year, Jones said.

15 - Employees at the Transfer Station.

$35,000-$45,000 - The annual salary range of the workers at the Transfer Station.

15,000 - In tons, the amount of recycled materials processed each year at the Convenience Center, located adjacent to the Transfer Station. This is also an increase of approximately 5% from last year, Jones said.

Want to learn more?

The hours of operation are as follows for Henderson County's Solid Waste Division:

Transfer Station: 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Saturday

Convenience Center: 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Saturday

Office: 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday

More information is available by going to hendersoncountync.gov/solid-waste or by calling 828-697-4505.

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Dean Hensley is the news editor for the Hendersonville Times-News. Email him with tips, questions and comments at DHensley@gannett.com. Please help support this kind of local journalism with a subscription to the Hendersonville Times-News.

This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Henderson County trash talk: What happens to garbage after pickup?