Man faces massive fine after dumping 500 pounds of trash in quiet town street — here's what authorities found at the scene

A contractor in Robeson County, North Carolina, was charged with illegally dumping construction materials, according to WBTW News 13.

Police found over 500 pounds of waste in Red Springs on March 27. The investigation showed the waste was from a renovation project in nearby Fayetteville, according to WMBF News. Vernon Dial Jr. was instructed by his employer to take the material to a legal deposit site. Once apprehended, Dial was held at Robeson County Detention Center on a $1,000 bond.

This problem is not uncommon. Some companies have dumped wet concrete into forests, while others have left construction waste on neighboring lawns.

Besides being a public hazard and an eyesore, construction waste poses significant environmental risks. Buildings and construction generate roughly 37% of heat-trapping gas pollution, though most of that is from heating, cooling, and energy use. About 25% of building emissions are embodied, or built into the manufacturing process. This includes the 11% of global pollution that goes into steel and concrete production.

So, when raw material gets dumped, all the pollution that went into making it was for nothing. The United States generated about 600 million tons of construction waste in 2018. The wastefulness of construction extends to perfectly usable items. Transportation and storage problems often outweigh the value of reuse, though other recycling pipelines are well-established.

There are technologies that can help in the recycling of concrete, but they have yet to be tested at scale. Some companies are trying to make new construction materials out of all sorts of different waste.

Watch now: Giant snails invading New York City?

Giant snails invading New York City?

0 seconds of 41 secondsVolume 0%

00:00

00:41

Enforcement of laws can help curtail illegal dumping, but real progress will require improvements in material sciences and the expansion of waste management options.

Do you think America has a plastic waste problem?

Definitely