Recycling pick up will end on Friday, June 15 due to vendor cancellation.
Due to circumstances beyond its control, the City of Lincolnton is suspending its curbside recycling program effective Friday, June 15, 2018.
The city will pick up recycling next week, June 11-15, and recycling bin pick-up will discontinue at that time. Sonoco, the city’s recycling vendor, cancelled service to the city as of June 5 and no longer accepts and processes the city’s single-stream recycling waste. Unfortunately, there are no immediate alternatives except suspending the program as a result of this service change by Sonoco.
The Lincolnton curbside recycling program with Sonoco relied on the Mecklenburg County MRF (Material Recovery Facility) which no longer accepts material from outside Mecklenburg County.
There has been widespread disruption to the US recycling market since China ceased accepting US recycling material in January of this year. As a result, the market has been glutted with excess recycling materials, especially single-stream, or comingled recyclables, and many recycling programs have become cost-prohibitive.
The city is currently exploring options to revive the curbside recycling program, keeping in mind budgetary impacts and operational efficiencies.
City of Lincolnton residents are encouraged to utilize the Lincoln County Convenience Sites to continue recycling SORTED recyclables. The Lincoln County Convenience Sites accept the following recycling items:
- Corrugated Cardboard
- Cans (Aluminum & Steel)
- Aluminum Products
- Glass (Translucent)
- Magazines
- Newspaper
- Mixed Paper
- Plastics (#1-#7, Except #6)
- Residential Motor Oil & Oil Filters
- Residential Antifreeze
- White Goods (Appliances)
- Lead Acid Batteries
- Electronics
- Florescent Bulbs
- Scrap Metal
Lincoln County features seven (7) convenience sites located throughout the County, as well as a recycling center and residential waste drop-off site at the entrance of the landfill. More information and Convenience Site locations are posted on the county website, www.LincolnCounty.org and are available at this link.
For information on recycling industry changes, see these news articles: