How Alamance County’s landfill and convenience center work, what goes where

At 2701 Austin Quarter Road in Graham, Alamance County’s landfill operates as a split system: bagged household trash and recyclables go one way, while bulky loads, construction debris, brush, tires and other weighable material go another. The county uses separate hours, separate rules and separate fees to decide what gets accepted and what does not.

Where the county wants each load

The convenience center is for residents, not businesses. The convenience center and recycling centers are for residential waste and recycling only, and all solid waste handled by the landfill system must be generated in Alamance County. Residents of incorporated towns are directed to contact their municipalities for curbside garbage and recycling; in the unincorporated areas, the county has franchise agreements with GFL and Republic Waste Service for curbside recycling.

That split shows up in the hours too. The landfill and scales run Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturday from 7 a.m. to noon, with Sunday closed. The recycling and convenience center stays open longer, Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., except on holidays. From Interstate 40, the county directs drivers to exit 148 at Highway 54, head east, turn onto Mineral Springs Road, then Saxapahaw-Bethlehem Road and Austin Quarter Road.

What the convenience center takes

For ordinary household trash, the convenience center is the fast lane, but not a free one. Alamance County charges $1 for a 13-gallon bag or smaller, $2 for bags larger than 13 gallons, $3 for trash cans smaller than 96 gallons and $5 for 96-gallon cans or larger. The center takes cash only, so showing up with the wrong payment method means another trip back home.

The no-charge side of the operation is the county’s main recycling stream. Accepted materials include aluminum, steel and other metal cans, clear and brown glass, newspaper, corrugated cardboard, mixed paper, magazines and catalogs, phone books and plastic bottles such as milk, soda, water and detergent containers. The county groups those as “target” recyclables. There is no charge for them.

The convenience center also takes several household liquids and automotive items at no charge, including used motor oil, oil filters, antifreeze, automobile batteries and used cooking oil. Homeowners can bring up to 5 gallons of used oil and up to 5 used oil filters.

A mistake that costs time is bringing the wrong kind of recycling contamination. The county brochure requires bottles and jars to be empty and rinsed, with no caps, lids or pumps. It also bars aerosol cans, all batteries, electronics, food-tainted items, hazardous waste, household glass, medical waste, plastic bags and wrap, scrap wood, shredded paper, Styrofoam, cords, hoses, wires, tires and toys. Effective July 1, 2022, paper shredding is no longer available to the public, so old file boxes are not a drop-off solution anymore.

What belongs across the scales, and what it costs

If the load is large, bulky or commercial, the county sends it across the scales. That side is for commercial and industrial garbage, large residential loads, construction and demolition debris, brush and yard waste, metal and tires, because the county weighs material to determine the charge. Scale hours are Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturday from 7 a.m. to noon, and the operator collects the fee before directing the vehicle to the proper disposal area.

The fee schedule is blunt. Municipal solid waste, industrial and commercial garbage, residential garbage, roofing and shingles, wood, drywall and sheetrock, C&D mixed loads, metal and bricks or concrete are listed at $44 per ton. Yard waste is $32 per ton, and tires are $76 per ton. Scale operations accept cash, credit or debit cards and checks, with a $5 minimum.

County staff do more than weigh the truck. The scale side uses surveillance cameras to help monitor loads, and the county says the system handles about 1,000 vehicles a week while disposing of roughly 125,000 tons of trash a year.

Special items that move through their own programs

Some items move through separate county programs rather than the standard trash line. Appliances are accepted without charge, and freon is extracted before they are sent off-site for recycling. The county says the appliance and metal program processes about 500 tons a year.

Electronics have been accepted at the convenience center since July 2009, and the county lists a broad mix of devices, from computers and monitors to microwaves, printers, cell phones, batteries, stereos, cords and chargers. A tipping fee of $42 per ton applies.

Tires and yard waste have their own paths too. The county says it processes about 1,800 tons of tires a year and charges $76 per ton for ineligible tires, though homeowners can bring five tires off the rims for free, and eligible retail tires with proper scrap-tire documentation may also qualify for no charge. Yard waste, including trees, stumps and leaves, is shredded into mulch that the county reuses on-site for roads after weather events.

Household hazardous waste is the most local service of all. Alamance County says it holds three one-day collection events each year, averaging more than 55,000 pounds per program, and the events are free for county residents. Accepted items include household cleaners, drain openers, toilet bowl cleaners, oven cleaners, disinfectants, solvents, thinners, shellacs, varnishes, sealers, wood preservatives, automotive fluids, pesticides, insecticides, batteries, fluorescent tubes, CFLs, latex and oil-based paint, spray paint and grill or camp-size propane cylinders. The county will not take explosives, ammunition, televisions, computers, smoke detectors, radioactive material or medical waste at those events.