Discover the Bliss of Asheville's Recycling Resources ... including Recycling Waste Vegetable Oil in Diesel Vehicles

Thrift Stores and Flea Markets
Donating your unwanted used items to thrift stores, and then shopping at thrift stores for items you need, is a great way to recycle. We've assembled a list of some of the thrift stores in the Asheville area where you can donate AND shop.

Asheville Recyclers
According to a 2002 Mountain Express article on the "Many Faces of Recycling".... "...One of the most colorful local salvage contractors is Bradley Barrett. A familiar sight to downtown residents and shopkeepers, Barrett drives around in his huge truck, sporting his trademark hard hat and hard-earned smile. All sorts of interesting-looking building materials hang from his flatbed trailer. For the past several years, Barrett has made a living reclaiming and selling salvaged building materials. He operates Asheville Recyclers, one of a growing number of locally owned architectural-salvage shops.... Barrett started doing carpentry as a teenager and quickly learned the art of recovering discarded materials. 'We basically try to reverse the process of the original construction,' he explains. Often called 'deconstruction,' this way of systematically dismantling a structure takes a great deal of patience. Barrett's holistic approach was influenced by Pete Hendricks, hailed as the 'father of deconstruction.' The Piedmont resident has coordinated more than 50 deconstruction projects throughout the Southeast; in 1998, he was named Recycler of the Year at the Southeastern Green Building Conference. Deconstruction, says Barrett, is good for the environment and for the local economy. 'We provide the service of removing materials and a supply of reusable materials for construction and renovation projects.'..." Various directories show Barrett's business located at 19 Biltmore. Don't have a current address, if, indeed, it even exists.

Asheville ReCyclery
"... has been getting as many people as possible out of their cars and on to bicycles. We are open to all members of the community and encourage everyone to come in and work on bikes, learn about fixing bikes, buy bikes and parts, get tune-ups, come to work shops, share knowledge and meet other bike enthusiasts. The ReCyclery is a donation based, pay what you can afford organization, open to work trade, bike trade and payment plans. Volunteers welcome as well as donations of bikes and parts and the monetary sorts..."

Blue Ridge Computer Recycling
"... was founded in 2005 to provide an outlet for out-of-use computer systems. Many of us have old computer equipment stored in a basement or closet. Of course, you don't want to throw that computer away because of the investment made and the environmental impact. But the longer you store it, the more useless it becomes, and it takes up usable space... Our technicians evaluate and test each system to determine whether it is repairable. The systems that can be repaired, are, and then they are donated to charitable organizations or resold. The systems that cannot be repaired are checked for any reusable parts and the remaining pieces are refined into reusable materials: like glass, metal, and plastic. None of our waste is sent overseas for refining! All hard drives are erased to Department of Defense standards, so your data will never be compromised..."

Click on each of the dozens of categories to the left to uncover what makes the Asheville area so vital, so intriguing and so, well, UTTERLY BLISSFUL!

Where and When to Recycle in the Asheville Area

Buncombe County Drop-Off
Recycling Centers
"...There are presently 2 drop-off centers operated by Curbside Management that are open to the public.  Anyone can use them (resident or not) and they are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  We accept the same items at the drop-offs as we do curbside collection in Asheville...."

Buncombe County Solid Waste Landfill
"It’s not my job" is not a phrase that can be used when it comes to proper management of garbage. It is everyone’s job to reduce, reuse, and recycle. We produce over 5 pounds per person per day in Buncombe County. We cannot escape the fact that this must be handled some way; either by reusing, reducing what we use, recycling, or landfilling.

Here is the type of waste you can bring to the Buncombe Country Solid Waste Landfill:

• Wood waste disposal
• Whitegoods recycling
• Construction and demolition debris disposal
• Residential, commercial, and industrial solid waste disposal
• Household hazardous waste disposal/recycling (periodically)
• Motor oil and battery recycling
• Pesticide container recycling
• Electronics recycling days
• Recycling convenience center

Drive "almost for free" by Recycling Waste Vegetable Oil from Most Restaurants in Your Diesel Vehicle

Corn A Copia
"... if you have a Diesel vehicle you can use WVO (Waste Vegetable Oil) from most restaurants. The initial investment will pay for itself quickly. Lowers emissions drastically, keeping our air cleaner and our planet greener...." Has converted the French Broad Brewery to Waste Vegetable Oil. Offers FREE Waste Oil Pickup to Asheville Area Restaurants

Inspiring Recycling Groups Worldwide

Freecycle Network™
".... is made up of 4,323 groups with 4,799,000 members across the globe. It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by a local volunteer (them's good people). Membership is free...."