excerpt from an email forwarded from Kathie Gannon (DeKalb County Commissioner, Super District 6)
New Policy Encourages Recycling
I am pleased to announce the County is following my recommendation to once again deliver the blue recycling boxes and bags to customers who have enrolled in the recycling program or who need replacement bags. A previous policy required recycling customers to drive to the Sanitation Department on Memorial Drive to pick up recycling bags and boxes. This was inconvenient to customers and could discourage participation in the program. The new policy calls for County Sanitation employees to deliver blue recycling bags and boxes directly to customers’ homes. The new policy will begin immediately.
In 2012, I worked with the administration to remove the initial sign-up fees for recycling. A task force that I chaired devised a marketing campaign to capitalize on the reduced fees. Consequently, between the fee elimination and the marketing campaign, the recycling program has vastly expanded. In all of 2012, DeKalb recycled 12,700 tons of recyclables. Through the first six months of 2013, the County has already recycled 11,000 tons.
County management later determined that Sanitation staff could no longer deliver the blue boxes and recycling bags. This was particularly inconvenient to residents of Dunwoody where recycling participation rates were among the highest. Commissioner Boyer worked to have a pilot program with the Dunwoody library to distribute recycling bags, but this pilot program was not satisfying the increased demand. Commissioner Boyer and I worked together to change the delivery policy to one that is more convenient to all customers.
DeKalb County has one of the largest recycling programs in the country. The County recycles a wide array of materials, and there is no additional charge for residential recycling customers. Many DeKalb residents have realized that by recycling, they only need to take their trash to curb once per week. To sign-up for recycling, or find out more information, go to www.dekalbrecycles.com DeKalb County sells the recyclables to SP Recycling, and last year DeKalb was paid over $600,000. These revenues help to keep DeKalb’s sanitation fees among the lowest in metro Atlanta.
