The Alpharetta City Council will consider during its July 11 meeting ending its curbside glass recycling collection program. If approved, the decision would result in a $4.19 reduction in the monthly cost of sanitation services for Alpharetta’s residential customers and would end the program on August 12.
The City of Alpharetta bills its residential sanitation customers quarterly, and the last billing was for the July – September service period. If the program is ended effective August 12, customers would be refunded or credited for the pro-rata savings.
Alpharetta officials say the move is being considered because of inconsistent service that is not meeting the City’s expectations. Under the terms of the contract with its vendor, those service issues allow the City to cancel the glass recycling program with 30-days notice.
BACKGROUND
In 2017, recyclers began advising local governments that they would stop accepting single-stream recycling that included glass because it could damage their equipment and offered a poor cost to revenue ratio. Most cities and counties ended their glass recycling efforts as a result, and instructed residents to put glass items in the trash instead. Alpharetta chose to instead have residents separate glass from other recyclables so that it could be sent to a specialty glass recycler.
Currently, Alpharetta is one of a small handful of local governments that still has a glass recycling program.