8 Days of Sustainability: Recycling for multi-family

**Guest blog by Natasha Dyer, Senior Recycling Coordinator for the City of Atlanta**

More than half of the City’s residents live in multi-family dwellings. The ability of these residents to recycle with ease is vital if Atlanta is to achieve its aggressive waste diversion goals.  That is why in 2017, the City of Atlanta began enforcement of its mandatory recycling ordinance that had been on the books since 2007.

Section 130-38(e) of the City of Atlanta’s Solid Waste Management Code requires owners of all multi-family dwellings with six or more units to offer recycling access to its residents.  Due to the cyber-attack experienced in early 2018, the website to report compliance and quarterly waste diversion tonnage, was rendered inoperative.  It is currently being rebuilt and reinstatement of the website should be done by spring 2019, allowing building and association managers to resume input of their diversion metrics.

Materials accepted in multi-family recycling programs include: cardboard, mixed paper, food boxes, mail, beverage and food cans, tubs and lids, plastic jars and jugs, and plastic bottles and caps. To find out more or to discuss recycling at your apartment or condo complex, email Natasha Dyer at NDyer@AtlantaGa.Gov.

Hard to recycle materials not accepted through multi-family recycling programs (see list here) can be taken to CHaRM, 1110 Hill Street SE, Atlanta, 30315. CHaRM is open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9am-4pm, and Saturdays from 8am-4pm.

About the Author

Natasha Dyer is a Senior Recycling Program Coordinator for the City of Atlanta in the Mayor’s Office of Resilience where she works to improve and create new commercial recycling infrastructure. She is currently, specifically, working on solutions, large and small, to bring the City closer to diverting organic wastes from landfill.