The long wait is over – curbside recycling is making a comeback in Augusta.
But this time, it isn’t automatic, and it isn’t free. And some details are still being worked out.
The city announced registration opens Aug. 1 for the new recycling program, which will be handled by Coastal Waste and Recycling, Augusta’s new solo garbage hauler.
Shaneeka Housey, a service rep for Coastal, had the latest information about the recycling program.
The cost, quarterly, will be $38.07, she said. That’s $12.69 a month.
Service is set to begin Nov. 1, but “we are trying to see if we can get it started sooner,” Housey said.
The company expects to begin delivering new, 96-gallon recycling carts and removing the old ones in August, she said.
Recycling pickup will be once a week, but the exact pickup day has not been finalized, Housey said.
Garbage, yard and bulky waste collection days will remain the same, and residents will still report service issues through 311 or the city’s app.
Allowed recyclable items include:
- Paper products – mixed paper, newspapers, magazines, catalogs, broken-down cardboard boxes
- Plastics – No. 1 (such as soda bottles) and No. 2 (such as milk jugs)
- Metals – aluminum, tin and steel cans
Glass must still be taken to one of the city’s designated collection points. Electronics, plastic bags and food-contaminated items such as pizza boxes are not allowed in recycling carts.
No more pretending
Recycling was a key component of Augusta’s last waste contracts, implemented in 2013. But awareness fell and by the pandemic many households were simply using their recycling cart as a second garbage bin.
Rather than end the program, however, the city allowed haulers to collect the second curbside load of “recycling” each week and take it straight to the landfill. While many residents continued to sort, Hurricane Helene finally provided a good reason to publicly suspend recycling.
New contract starts Aug. 1
Friday also marks the start of Augusta’s five-year collection contract with Coastal. The Florida-based company isn’t new to Augusta streets, but will no longer divide the load with former co-provider Waste Management. The city made a condition of the new contract that the provider include an add-on recycling program.
Recycling wasn’t free before, but it wasn’t optional. The service was built into the $320 annual fee billed to homeowners for garbage pickup. City officials haven’t announced the new fee amount but discussed raising it and using the surplus to fund other garbage-related services.
Going for a committee recommendation Tuesday is a request for proposals to sell the city’s two compressed natural gas fueling stations. The stations were built to service the CNG-powered trucks the city required waste haulers to use in 2013. Under the new contract, garbage trucks aren’t required to run on CNG.
To sign up for recycling with Coastal, visit https://www.coastalwasteinc.com/online-sign-up/ or call 706-790-4117.
