| External Website
www.acc-recycle.org
Administration &
Customer Service
706-613-3501
706-613-3504 [Fax]
Litter
Hotline
706-613-3506
Recycling
Division
706-613-3512
Hours
8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Solid
Waste Director
Jim Corley
Administrative Location
725 Hancock Industrial Way
(as of Jan. 8, 2010)
Location Map
Mailing Address
P.O. Box 1868
Athens, GA 30603 |
|
 New! The Athens-Clarke County Recycling Facility will host the sixth annual Teacher Reuse Store on Sat., Aug. 7.
The Teacher Reuse Store provides usable classroom materials to certified educators at no cost and reduces the amount of waste disposed in our local landfill.
The organizers are seeking item donations including general office supplies and unusual items such as industry by-products. Electronics or hazardous materials will not be accepted for donations.
All items must be received no later than Wed., Aug. 4. To donate items, please contact the ACC Recycling Division at (706) 613-3512.
New! Record number of schools earn Green School status.
Fourteen schools participated in the Athens-Clarke County-sponsored Green School Program and achieved Green School status through their dedication to environmental awareness.
The awarded schools were: Athens Montessori, Barnett Shoals Elementary, Barrow Elementary, Chase Street Elementary, Cleveland Road Elementary, Coile Middle, Fowler Drive Elementary, Gaines School Elementary, JJ Harris Elementary, Monsignor Donovan Catholic High, Howard B. Stroud Elementary, Whit Davis Elementary, Whitehead Elementary, and Winterville Elementary schools.
To be recognized as a Green School, at least five teachers must participate in an average of five environmental education activities per classroom.
The program is for the upcoming 2010-2011 school year, and is sponsored by ACC Transportation and Public Works Department, ACC Public Utilities Department, ACC Solid Waste Department / Recycling Division and Keep Athens-Clarke County Beautiful. It was created in 2004 to provide environmental education resource support for teachers.
New! Check out a list of items that are recyclable (and some that aren't) in Athens-Clarke County at our Online Documents area.
New! The Recycling Division and the Classic Center have released a Request for Designs for an outdoor recycling bin at the Classic Center for Georgia-based artists. The information is available in the Online Documents area.
The Solid Waste Department moved to a new SPLOST-funded facility located at 725 Hancock Industrial Way, next to the Athens-Clarke County Materials Recycling Facility.
All functions and programs of the Solid Waste Department previously run from 1005 College Avenue including garbage and recycling bag sales, garbage and recycling collections, leaf and limb program, billing, and customer service will move.
The new Solid Waste facility was built to silver LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) specifications with features including: low flow fixtures, rainwater capturing system to be used for irrigation, toilets and janitors mop sink, geothermal heat and cooling systems, stormwater management systems and recycled water truck wash bays. A complete list of LEED features used is available online at www.acc-recycle.org or by calling the Solid Waste Department at (706) 613-3501.
The Georgia Department of Community Affairs Keep Georgia Beautiful Program presented a First Place Litter Prevention Award to Solid Waste’s Keep Athens-Clarke County Beautiful Division for the "Seriously... y’all still litter? Time to change your ways" public awareness campaign.
The campaign was also chosen as the "2009 Outstanding Public Education Program" by the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA)’s Georgia Chapter.
The SWANA Georgia Chapter also named Solid Waste's Recycling Division as the "2009 Most Outstanding Recycling Program."
New U.S. Requirements for battery recycling: To prepare batteries for recycling to meet the recently revised U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) standards, consumers must tape the positive end of rechargeable batteries with clear tape and store them in a plastic bag. Rechargeable batteries will be marked: Nickel-Cadmium (NiCad), Nickel Metal Hydride (Ni-MH); Lithium-ion (Li-ion), Lithium Polymer, or silver-oxide (button) batteries. Button batteries may be lined up on a strip of clear tape and secured with another strip of clear tape along the top. Alkaline batteries do not have to be taped. This regulation was designed to help prevent major incidents, such as fires, during battery shipment.
In Athens residents can drop off rechargeable and untapped alkaline batteries at the Athens-Clarke County Material Recycling Facility located at 699 Hancock Industrial Way off Olympic Drive Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Feeling confused? When in doubt, seal the positive ends of all batteries with clear tape before recycling. The following stores take only rechargeable batteries for recycling at no charge: Batteries Plus, Best Buy, Home Depot, Lowe's, Office Depot, RadioShack, Sears, Staples, and other free locations posted at www.rbrc.org.
For additional information, contact the ACC Recycling Division at (706) 613-3512 or online at www.acc-recycle.org or on the ACC Recycling Division Facebook page.
 A new recycling drop off location has been established at Athens Technical College. The bins are located at the Job Quest Center on Highway 29, across the street from the main campus. For more information on what can be recycled and a complete list of drop off locations, contact the ACC Recycling Facility at 706-613-3512 or visit www.acc-recycle.org.
 A series of 40 Cigarette Litter Receptacles (CLRs) have been installed on parking meters and light poles in a pilot area of downtown Athens. The CLRs, pronounced are meant to provide a means for cigarette smokers to dispose of their used cigarettes in an eye-catching receptacle that is unique to Athens.
The pilot area includes the South side of West Washington Street from Pulaski Street to College Avenue, both sides of North Lumpkin Street from Washington Street to Broad Street, and the South side of East Clayton Street from Lumpkin Street to College Avenue.
The CLRs were collaboratively designed with Athens Design Development (ADD) and the Athens-Clarke County Solid Waste Department’s Keep Athens-Clarke County Beautiful program with assistance from the Athens-Clarke County Stormwater Management Program, the Athens-Clarke County Public Information Office, the Athens Downtown Development Authority, and the Athens Tobacco Prevention Coalition.
The group began meeting in 2006 to look into ways to address the potential increase of outdoor cigarette litter in downtown Athens resulting from the indoor smoking ban adopted in 2005. After researching available commercial cigarette litter disposal options, the group opted to collaborate with Athens-based ADD to produce a series of prototype receptacles that were evaluated and tested to produce a CLR model that was attractive and met its design criteria. The CLRs not only needed to be eye catching, but also tamper proof and easy for staff to empty. The design also needed to keep water and trash from accumulating inside.
Funding for the 40 CLRs comes from a grant from the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program of Keep America Beautiful and funds provided by the Athens Tobacco Prevention Coalition. A cigarette litter count was conducted to help determine the several adjacent blocks used for the pilot project. Receptacle locations were then selected based in part on the areas with the highest concentration of discarded cigarettes. After the CLRs are installed, a follow-up scan will be conducted to evaluate their effectiveness. The initial installation will provide information for potential expansion of the program to other areas downtown and throughout Athens-Clarke County.
As part of GreenFest, images, prototypes, cigarette litter studies, and documents from the CLR design process will be on display in the Lyndon House Arts Center at 293 Hoyt Street until June 7 during normal operating hours.
 Athens-Clarke County ordinance states that all loads of trash and debris must be completely covered. This coverage must provide a secure method of preventing contents or litter from dropping or escaping from the vehicle during movement.
All loads of trash to be dropped off at the ACC Landfill must be covered. If loads arrive uncovered, drivers will be refused admittance to the landfill and not allowed to drop off their load.
For more information, call the Athens-Clarke County Landfill at 706-613-3508.
List of approved residential and commercial haulers in Athens-Clarke County
Among
those honored at the 28th Annual Keep Georgia Beautiful Awards
Luncheon in October was Keep Athens-Clarke County Beautiful, which
received a 1st Place State Award for the Cigarette
Fairy Litter Prevention Campaign.
The Litter Prevention Category recognizes
educational and remedial efforts designed to change attitudes and
behaviors, resulting in a positive impact on a community.
KACCB created the Cigarette Fairy public awareness campaign as
a creative and innovative way to address the problem of cigarette
butt litter.
The campaign highlights a make-believe fairy who picks
up discarded cigarette butts from the ground. The campaign was
meant to bring attention to cigarette butts as litter and to remind
citizens who smoke to dispose of their cigarette waste properly,
as cigarette butts do not disintegrate over time.
The Cigarette
Fairy public awareness campaign can be seen on UGA buses, Athens
Transit buses, Fairway billboards, Beechwood Stadium Cinemas screens,
Georgia Square Cinema screens, ACTV, eight cable channels, selected
downtown bars, businesses, and newspapers.
Phonebooks for recycling
can
be placed in the paper recycling bins in your office, curbside
collection at home, or at one of seven drop-off locations around
Athens.
Keep Athens-Clarke County
Beautiful (KACCB) was presented the National Rogers Award
for outstanding television public service announcements
at the 2005 Keep America Beautiful National Awards ceremony in Orlando,
FL.
Visit the Keep
Athens-Clarke County Beautiful Web site for more information.
Please report missed
garbage and/or recycling within 24 hours of your scheduled
pick-up. Just call 706-613-3501, extension 0.
Please give our drivers and
collectors a hand by following these trash tips:
- All garbage must be bagged - no loose garbage
will be accepted. Loose trash can become litter!
- Don't allow water to accumulate in the garbage can
- it becomes too heavy to liftand/or move.
- Construction and demolition (C&D) debris
(example - wood, shingles, drywall,
etc.) should not be placed in your trash can.
Please contact the ACC Landfill for proper disposal of C&D
material at 706-613-3508.
- Blue bag customers - please don't place more than 40
pounds of garbage in the blue bags (and no more than
40 pounds of recyclables in clear bags).
These tips help our drivers
and collectors stay safe and our community clean. For additional
information, contact the ACC Solid Waste office at 706-613-3501,
extension 0.
Full
cost of providing solid waste management services
ACC Residents can
now recycle their old electronics
for free on a regular basis. Bring your electronics to the ACC Landfill
located on 5700 Lexington Rd. between 7:30 A.M. and 4:00 P.M. on
The Glass
Packaging Institute has featured Athens-Clarke County's commercial
curbside recycling program in the downtown area as a
model program.
Residents are required to use PAPER LAWN REFUSE
BAGS for all grass clippings, pine straw, small brush,
and leaves. No plastic bags will be accepted. Paper lawn refuse
bags are available in the Home and Garden section of Target, Wal-Mart,
and other local retail stores.
Awards
Activities
The ACC Solid Waste Department provides garbage and recycling
services to approximately 8,600 residents in the Urban Services
District. We provide garbage and recycling services for approximately
350 commercial businesses in the downtown area and also provide
garbage and recycling dumpster services to another 300 businesses
in the community. In order to provide recycling opportunities to
all residents of the county, the ACC Recycling Division operates
7 recycling drop-off
centers conveniently located throughout the county. The recycling
drop-off centers are open seven days a week, 24 hours a day.
Keep Athens-Clarke
County Beautiful
Executive Director: Stacee Ferrell
(706) 613-3501
Formerly a secondary agency, KACCB is now a part of the Solid Waste
Department. Their mission is to work towards a cleaner, more beautiful
community by improving attitudes and behaviors regarding the environment.
They handle neighborhood cleanups, Adopt-a-Highway Programs, Christmas
Tree recycling and more.
Materials Recycling Facility
699 Hancock Industrial Way
7:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
(706) 613-3512 [Recycling Division]
Waste Reduction Manager: Suki Janssen
The MRF opened on August 31, 1995 as the first public-private partnership
facility of its kind in Georgia. Only private and public-sector
haulers may deliver recyclables to this facility. It is not open
to the public. The facility is owned and operated by FCR, Inc. and
located on ACC owned land. Tours and educational programs are available
by request; please call (706) 613-3512 to schedule a visit.
Landfill
5700 Lexington Road
(706) 613-3508
Manager: Brad Rickard
Solid Waste Citizens Advisory Committee
The SWCAC is the ONLY committee formed during Athens and Clarke
County government unification that is still in existence. It celebrated
its 10th anniversary in January 2002. A fact sheet is available
in our documents section. |
