The City of Alpharetta is ending its contract with Republic Services for curbside glass recycling collection. Citing inconsistent and poor-quality service to residents, the City Council voted unanimously to exercise the City’s right under the contract with the waste hauler and terminate that line of service effective August 12.
Republic Services will continue to provide curbside collection of trash, other recyclables, yard waste, and bulky waste to Alpharetta’s residential waste customers.
The removal of the curbside glass recycling service from the Republic Services contract will reduce the monthly cost of service for an Alpharetta household by $4.19. Additionally, residents who pay for trash and recycling services on a quarterly basis will receive a credit of $12.57 on their next bill. Those residents who made an annual payment for the service will be issued a refund of $47.77.
“The vote tonight is to discontinue a service that is not working,” stated Council Member Dan Merkel during the July 11 meeting at which the decision was finalized. “It is not, however, a decision to discontinue the recycling of glass. We have been working to identify an alternative to the current program, and we will continue that work until a viable, quality solution is established.”
During the meeting, Council Members commented on the alternatives that the City has been exploring since January. These included reducing the frequency of service and establishing one or more drop-off sites located at City parks or other properties. Officials noted that reducing the frequency of service, even to only once per month, provided little to no cost savings and no promise of improving the consistency or quality of service. They also noted that other communities that have established unstaffed drop-off stations for glass recyclables have experienced ongoing issues with improper disposal of other materials in and around the stations.
The City has also attempted to negotiate an agreement with the City of Roswell for use of that city’s recycling center by Alpharetta residents, but those efforts have, thus far, been unsuccessful.
“We, as a city, will continue to explore the options and do the best we can to identify one that we believe provides a quality glass recycling program for Alpharetta residents,” said Mayor Jim Gilvin. “At this time, however, the current program is not working, is not providing quality service, and we cannot continue to ask our residents to pay for something that we find unsatisfactory.”
City staff is working with Republic Services on details such as the final collection of glass recycling bins from residents. Please watch for more information as it becomes available.