Eager to help the needy or just to clean out their closets, Metro Atlanta residents have found donation bins at local shopping centers a handy place to unload their stuff.
But those convenient bins have become a nuisance for some local business owners. They appear in parking lots without notice or permission. Used mattresses and other items pile up and become an eyesore. And though residents may think they’re donating to charity, many of the bins are placed by for-profit companies that property owners say leave them to clean up the mess.
Now an effort to address the problem has landed Gwinnett County in federal court.
Gwinnett outlawed for-profit collection bins altogether on private property in unincorporated areas in 2014. But two recycling firms have filed a lawsuit, saying Gwinnett has violated their constitutional rights to free speech and equal protection by discriminating against for-profit companies.
The companies say Gwinnett’s ordinance illegally distinguishes between for-profit and nonprofit companies, violating equal protection provisions of the U.S. and Georgia constitutions. Among other things, they also say the collection bins – which serve as advertisements for their services – amount to commercial speech, and Gwinnett’s ordinance violates their First Amendment rights.
Gwinnett officials deny their ordinance is discriminatory. But they’re considering new, tougher regulations that would restrict for-profit and nonprofit collection bins alike.
Meanwhile, business leaders wonder what it will take to get rid of the nuisance collection bins.
"As of today, we have none," said Glenn Wisdom, operations director for the Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District. "But tomorrow I could go around and find four or five that showed up overnight."
The dispute sheds light on the textiles recycling business, which one trade group estimates is a $1 billion industry. Hundreds of companies across the country collect clothing, shoes and household textiles and resell or recycle them.
One of the companies involved in the lawsuit – Illinois-based USAgain LLC – has more than 970 collection bins in Metro Atlanta, according to court documents. The company says it collected nearly 355,000 pounds of clothing and textiles in Gwinnett County before the ban of clothing and textiles.
In court documents, USAgain and the second company involved in the lawsuit, Maryland-based Mid-Atlantic Clothing Recycling, stress the environmental benefits of recycling. They say they share some of their proceeds with charities and with property owners who accept their collection bins.
The companies say they visit each bin weekly to keep them tidy and collect donated items, and they provide 24-hour telephone lines to report problems.
“Our clients are providing a service to the residents of Gwinnett County,” said attorney Julie Sellers, who represents the companies. “They save hundreds of thousands of tons of materials from going into landfills.”
Wisdom, the Gwinnett Place operations manager, tells a different story – one where bins frequently appear without the permission of property owners, donated junk piles up and companies don’t respond to complaints.
“These things become a public nuisance,” he said. “People end up dumping mattresses, appliances and furniture. Then the property owner has the added expense of cleaning all that up.”
Complaints like that led the Gwinnett Board of Commissioners to prohibit for-profit collection bins two years ago. Non-profits can still use collection bins.
County Commissioner Jace Brooks said it makes sense to target the bins of for-profit companies. “A very high percentage of the problem (bins) are the for-profits,” he said.
But in December USAgain and Mid-Atlantic filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Atlanta. It says Gwinnett’s approach is unconstitutional and asks the court to overturn the ban.
In court filings, Gwinnett argues it has the authority to regulate land uses and to restrict the placement of collection bins to protect the health, safety and welfare of its citizens.
Nonetheless, Gwinnett officials may revise the ordinance. A draft under consideration would allow charities and businesses to place bins at their own offices, but not elsewhere.
County commissioners recently tabled discussion of the proposal until April 26.
The companies’ attorneys said they had not seen the proposed ordinance. Wisdom said the ordinance could help. But he said any law will only work if companies abide by it.
“Duluth passed an ordinance banning these boxes,” he said. “That’s great, but I can drive over there right now and see boxes.”
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