Wednesday, November 7, 2007
News City: Apartment buildings must provide larger recycling containers
Posted by Thomas Wheatley @thomaswheatley on Wed, Nov 7, 2007 at 11:09 PM
Atlanta City Council clarified its current recycling program and passed an ordinance Monday requiring owners of multifamily complexes -- defined as those consisting of six or more living units, such as apartment complexes, condominiums, townhouses and public housing -- to provide larger containers to residents for recyclables. Under the new ordinance, according to a statement released by the council, recycling containers should be "capable of holding an adequate amount of recyclable waste and no less than three gallons multiplied by the number of living units in the development."
The city lists recycling's many benefits, such as its conservation of energy and natural resources and role in reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and pollution. The dwindling amount of space available in landfills and the cost of herding trash there also was an impetus for the tightened requirements. "More and more landfills are being closed and both the city and state of Georgia could ultimately run out of economical and logistically feasible places to dispose of its solid waste," the city said in a statement.
The city, by law, is required to reduce 25 percent of its waste stream.
"Recycling should be made easy and convenient for all residents of multifamily dwellings, and citizens and residents of these dwellings especially in our high-rises, have expressed a strong desire and a need to recycle," said District 8 City Councilwoman Clair Muller, the legislation’s sponsor, in a statement. "We all must do our part for the sake of our environment."
Owners of a multifamily dwelling or neighborhood association will also be required to submit an annual report documenting the amount and type of recyclables collected, the frequency of their collection, and the size and average number of recycling containers located on their property.
Comments (4)
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and yet I still can't get Atlanta to send me a recycling bin. It's been 4 months and a lot longer than their estimate of "5 weeks".
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A couple of years ago I called the city to ask for a recycling bin to be put near the Poncey Highland condo building I was living in. The woman on the phone was very nice, asked a lot of questions about where I lived and told me a bin would be sent. Over a year later, when I was moving to a new place, the bin had not arrived. Maybe I'll try again with my current condo building - but my hopes ain't high. It sure would beat driving to IKEA and stuffing 2 weeks of recycling into the tiny openings for their bins (God bless 'em).
Mingaling and Darin, I forgot to include in the post that this ordinance becomes effective July 1. I don't know if that means the city will drag its feet in sending out new containers because of the change. If you still can't get results from Dept. of Public Works, put the heat on your local councilmember for answers.
As I read it, the ordinance doesn't mean that the city will provide recycling containers. It requires the building owner or Home Owners Association to arrange for a private firm to set up a recycling program. you can contact the Georgia Recycling Coalition for advice: http://www.georgiarecycles.org/ Telephone: 404-634-3095 Fax: 404-350-8780 gloria@georgiarecycles.org
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