VOL. 62, ISSUE 9 I WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2015 I THEBLUEBANNER.NET
Solid waste is unloaded and leveled at the Buncombe County Waste Management Facility.
Visionary reduces contamination risks in Henderson County
EMILY OSTERTAG
eosterta@unca.edu -
News Staff Writer
Regional Recycling
Solutions, a pioneer
ing project new to the
U.S. recycling indus
try, may drastically
shift the waste han
dling process in West
ern North Carolina
and eventually across
the country, environ
mentalists say.
“It’s so harmful to
take our waste and put
it in the ground at the
landfills. It can con
taminate our water
and cause big prob
lems there,” said Ken
Allison, managing
partner of Regional
Recycling Solutions
and owner of Hillside
Nursery.
According to the
2011 waste composi
tion estimate for Bun
combe County, only
18 percent of the res
idential waste stream
is being recycled.
These paper products,
plastics, and glass to
taled 145,182 tons
- exactly 50 per
cent of overall waste.
Currently, Bun
combe County has
only two single-strain
recycling centers that
handle pre-separated
materials, placed in
blue bags by residents
and businesses, Alli
son said. This system
commonly leads to the
unchecked disposal of
non-separated recy-
eling in landfills.
“Our facility is a
multi-stream recy
cling facility. We can
take material from the
haulers, and process it
through our facility,”
Allison said. “We can
get the recyclables out
of it. It’s a new twist
and a new technique
that in Europe is very,
very common.”
A business propos
al three years ago,
Allison said, got him
thinking about the
American recycling
industry in compari
son to Europe’s. Azero
waste poliey mandat
ed in most of Europe
banned the use of
landfills, forcing many
countries to invent al
ternative solutions in
order to recycle 100
percent of their waste,
he explained.
“We’re bringing in
German teehnology
and German recy
cling solutions to Bun
combe County,” Alli
son said.
Along with this sort
ing facility, Allison
said the 53-acre lot in
south Asheville will
also encompass a vis
itor education center.
Hoping to serve the
community as a help
ful information out
let, he said he wants
the center to target
school groups, young
adults and residents of
all ages. A change in
mindset and attitude
creates an understand
ing of the importance
of recycling, and this
should start at a young
age, Allison explained.
Rick Burt, a vol
unteer for Mountain
True and chair of the
organization’s south
office recycling com
mittee, said Regional
Recycling Solutions
will accept garbage
from waste haulers
around Western North
Carolina, separate
out the recycling and,
hopefully, sell it for
profit.
“In Henderson
County we’re reey-
cling only about 10
percent of our waste
- not very much -
because a lot of peo
ple just don’t want to
bother or don’t know
about the system,”
Burt said. “You know,
it’s an educational
SEE RECYCLING ON PAGE?
Residents ousted in lieu of newcomers
JOHNNY CONDON
jcondon@unca.edu -
Contributor
The Asheville
Housing Authori
ty plans to redevel
op the Lee Walker
Heights neighborhood.
Olufemi Lewis,
an activist and Lee
Walker Heights resi
dent, said neighbors in
her community are be
ing forced out, and this
is creating problems.
“What the problem
is, is that you have in
dividuals who have
been over there, for
multiple generations.
Since the existence of
L
public housing,” Lew
is ■ said, “they want
to stay on the side
of town they know.
Gentrification is both
the favorable and un
favorable aspects of
change, according to
an article by the De
partment of Interior
Architecture at UNC
Greensboro. In pub
lic use it is often re
ferred to as unwanted
neighborhood change.
There are 18,102
renter-occupied hous
ing units in Asheville,
according to the U.S.
Census Bureau website.
As of 2013, the median
rent is $839. This is 8
percent higher than the
state median of $776.
Forty-seven percent
of renters within the
city are cost burdened,
according to the City
Government website.
This means more than
30 percent of their in
come is spent on hous
ing cost and utilities.
Rental rates have ris
en in recent years, and
this is due to the city’s
attractiveness, said Jeff
Konz, UNC Asheville
dean of social sciences.
“Asheville is a very
desirable place to live,”
Konz said, “and we’re
seeing that in sec
ond homes and
retirement, and that
does drive up hous
ing prices as a whole.”
Ryan Wargen, an
A-B Tech stndent, said
he moved here for the
culture in Asheville,
although it was diffi
cult to find housing.
Wargen said he did
not have a lot of op
tions, but would rather^
pay less for housing at
the expense of quality.
Kristi DeCarlo,
a seven-year Ashe
ville resident, said
she had sitnilar dif
ficulties. Original
ly DeCarlo lived in
SEE GENTRIFICATION ON PAGE 7
Music conference to
feature insight into
record industry
LARISA KARR
takarr@unca.edu -
A&F Editor
A small-town musician
runs away from home,
hitches it to the big city,
and becomes “discov
ered” for their talents. It’s
a cliche topic Hollywood
never fails to capitalize
on, but just how real
are the chances that this
could actually happen to
someone?
This Saturday, a brand-
new event is taking
place in UNC Asheville’s
Highsmith Union that will
dissect the intricacies of
what it takes to make it
in the recording indus
try. The conference will
feature panelists from
different sections of the
entertainment business,
including producers,
artists and marketing
experts.
“Three of us believed
in Asheville and the
untapped music scene
that we had there, so we
SEE INDUSTRY ON PAGE 7