Since the launch in October of Cartlanta, the city of Atlanta’s new residential recycling program, recycling tonnage has increased 23 percent, from 1,079 tons collected to 1,403 tons. Meanwhile, recycling collection rates in City Hall and other municipal buildings have increased six-fold, the city said Thursday in a statement.
When the program began, city residents generated 96,000 tons of trash annually, costing the city $7 million a year to dispose of in landfills. Recycling rates were roughly 12.5 percent or 12,000 tons annually. Diverting recyclables from landfills produces revenue for the City at a rate of $30 per ton.
The Cartlanta recycling effort is aimed at improving recycling rates across the city and diverting 90 percent of recyclable materials from landfills.
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