Atlanta recycling, yard trimmings service reduced to every other week

Department of Public Works employees pick up recycling bins in the city of Atlanta in 2019. CONTRIBUTED BY PHIL SKINNER

Department of Public Works employees pick up recycling bins in the city of Atlanta in 2019. CONTRIBUTED BY PHIL SKINNER

For at least the next three months, recycling and yard trimmings will be picked up from homes in Atlanta every other week, officials said.

The city’s Department of Public Works announced the reduced pickup schedule earlier this week. Trash will continue to be picked up every week.

Starting next week, recycling will be collected on the second and fourth week of every month. Yard trimmings will only be collected on the first and third week of every month.

The changes are effective for a minimum of 90 days.

The city did not specify why the pickups are being reduced, but suggested it could be tied to COVID-19 cases among sanitation workers.

“As COVID-19 cases continue to rise nationally and locally and directly impact our solid waste frontline workers, DPW has implemented service changes to help mitigate the adverse health and safety effects on employees while continuing to provide quality, effective and efficient services to residents,” the department said.

Future schedule changes “will be made based on the number of COVID-19 cases experienced by the department.”