Hermitage eyes former homeless encampment as site to build new recycling center

HERMITAGE, Tenn. (WKRN) – In Hermitage, there’s an effort to transform a piece of land that was once one of the largest homeless encampments in the area. 

A councilman told News 2 he wants to build a recycling convenience center at the site, which is something the far east side of Davidson County lost several years ago. 

It’s a small piece of land, but at one time it caused some big headaches for Hermitage. Just one year ago, several dozen homeless individuals camped out in the woods along Andrew Jackson Way. At one count, an estimated 36 homeless people lived there, making it a major health and safety concern for residents at the time. 

“People just sitting in the middle of the day and just shooting up,” recalled Hermitage resident Eric Love.

Another resident, Brittany McCann, led an effort in 2023 to clear out the camp, stating it was littered with “feces, urine, vomit, blood, and used medical supplies like needles to inject drugs.”

At the start of 2024, Metro found a new home for the homeless community. Now, Councilman Jordan Huffman is laying out a new vision for the property. 

“It’s turning lemons into lemonade, essentially,” said Huffman, describing his new vision for the site. 

Huffman wants to make the wooded area along Andrew Jackson Way a recycling convenience center, as well as a compost center, for the community. Hermitage lost its recycling convenience center several years ago due to an issue with the lease, forcing residents to drive much farther to neighboring districts to recycle. 

“It’s really inconvenient for residents of Hermitage to drive to Donelson or Old Hickory just to recycle, to do their duty to be good to their mother Earth,” said Huffman. “We’ve had really good feedback about this.  They’re very much looking forward to it, and we’re excited to get it off the ground.” 

There are still several steps in order to launch this project, including required soil samples, land transfers and rezoning. However, folks told News 2 that as long as the homeless have housing, they like the idea of a new recycling convenience center returning to Hermitage. 

“I don’t recycle, but never too late to do it,” said Eliud Ramos. 

Huffman’s goal is to have the Hermitage recycling convenience center up and running by summer in 2025.