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Recycling - June 2025

Recycling
Released: June 2025

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​The Department of Public Works collects recyclables once a week as part of its curbside collections service.  In FY23, the department collected approximately 19,800 tons of recyclables from Atlanta residences, comprising about 19% of total tonnage collected.  We undertook this audit to assess the effectiveness of the city’s recycling program in diverting waste and identify barriers to participation.
 
We recommend that the city develop written policies and procedures for recording tonnage data, develop a quality control process to ensure data is accurate, and develop a reconciliation process to ensure invoices match tonnage data.  Additionally, we recommend the city design a recycling educational program to target service areas with lower recycling participation rates, set a realistic waste diversion goal for curbside collection services, and develop a detailed enforcement plan for the multi-family recycling ordinance. We also recommend the city study the feasibility of offering single-stream recycling that includes glass.
We found:
  • Overall, the city recycles about 23% of its garbage, but participation varies by service area. Residents of service area 5 recycle about 25% of their garbage waste, while the other service area recycling rates range from 15-21%.
  • The city aims to divert waste but has not defined a specific waste diversion goal, which could improve the effectiveness of the program.
  • Recycling tonnage in the department’s tracking system was inaccurate, and invoices were not reconciled to tonnage records, leading to overpayments.
  • Public Works has not enforced the multi-family recycling ordinance requiring property owners of multi-family dwellings to provide recycling services for tenants and report recycling tonnage to the city annually.
  • Unlike other municipalities in the metro area, the city accepts glass in its single stream curbside recycling program. Accepting glass helps divert waste but is more expensive to process than other materials.