Local News
Decatur may end glass recycling program
Decatur continues searching for solutions to recycling glass, as its contract with Latham Home Sanitation ends June 30. Latham collects the city’s single-stream recycling and hauls it to various processors, including Pratt Industries in Conyers, which recently announced it won’t accept comingled glass after June 1.
Assistant City Manager David Junger told the city commissioners Monday night he’s examining several options including:
- Quit recycling glass and take it to the landfill, meaning residents mix glass with regular garbage.
- Separate glass from other recyclables, which DeKalb County now encourages in its residents. DeKalb wants residents taking recycled glass to drop-off locations, which could be a possibility for Decatur.
- Have Latham collect glass in a separate truck and take it to a place like College Park's Strategic Materials, which processes between 250 to 300 tons of mixed glass and garbage daily from across the southeast.
- Instead of contracting with an outside agency the city collects its own glass.
Each of these scenarios, including the landfill, means an increase in the sanitation service fee charged residents, currently $250 per unit.
Junger said the city has until early June to decide the fate of recycled glass.
