Making it pay in Athens, GA
The materials recovery facility (MRF) in Athens, GA, is a well-fed recycling facility. But, if the local government has its way, it will be even better fed in the near future. The Athens-Clarke County (ACC) regional municipality in which the facility resides has a put-or-pay contract with the plant`s owner/operator, under which the more it feeds the MRF, the more money it receives in return, through the sale of recycled end products. The ACC Solid Waste Department uses a volume-based waste collection system that encourages residents to recycle--the more they recycle, the less trash they have to put out, and the less they pay each month. The Athens facility, which will be a featured site tour at next month`s WasteExpo `97 in nearby Atlanta, had its ground-breaking two years ago, in April 1995. ACC is responsible for delivering material--or seeing that recyclables are delivered--to the MRF, which is owned and operated by Resource Recovery Systems (RRS, Centerbrook, Conn.). Over the past year, ACC has stepped up various incentives for businesses to recycle and send their recyclables to the facility, including instituting pilot programs for commercial interests that offer them versions of volume-based collection similar to that done by residents.
- OSTI ID:
- 464881
- Journal Information:
- Waste Age, Vol. 28, Issue 4; Other Information: PBD: Apr 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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