Richland County is staffing the recycling collection site on Clemson Road to help reduce illegal dumping and keep the location tidy.
The collection site, located at 900 Clemson Road in Northeast Richland County, now has a gate and is monitored by a County employee. It is open to the public from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. every day except Mondays and Wednesdays. The site serves as a temporary recycle collection point until a permanent facility is built.
“I’m extremely pleased to have a temporary recycling drop-off location on Clemson Road,” said Richland County Councilman Calvin “Chip” Jackson, representative for District 9 where the collection site is located. “However, two factors were equally important to me: I wanted it to be temporary, while a permanent site is built in a more appropriate area of northeast Columbia, and I wanted the site to be monitored and serviced on a full-time basis. I am happy County staff is doing these things.”
The drop-off site was previously unstaffed, but repeated problems with illegal dumping and overflowing receptacles led Richland County Solid Waste & Recycling to decide to staff the facility with a County employee.
"Unmanned sites tend to attract illegal dumping and turn into eyesores,” said Solid Waste & Recycling Manager Art Braswell. “The overall appearance of the Clemson Road Recycling Drop-off Site has improved tremendously since we began to staff it."
Items accepted at the Clemson Road location include cardboard, plastic bottles and jugs, glass bottles and jugs, aluminum cans, steel cans, paper, books, clothing and vegetable oil.
In addition to Richland County’s biweekly curbside recycling collection, Solid Waste & Recycling has three drop-off sites for residents to dispose of waste:
- Lower Richland Drop-off Center, 10531 Garners Ferry Road; 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 12:30 p.m.-5 p.m. Sunday
- C&D Landfill, 1070 Caughman Road North (off Monticello Road); 7 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday and 7 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Saturday
- Clemson Road Recycling Drop-off Site, 900 Clemson Road; 9 a.m.-6 p.m. every day but Mondays and Wednesdays
For information about what items are accepted at drop-off locations, visit richlandcountysc.gov/richlandrecycles or contact Solid Waste & Recycling at 803-576-2440.