The City of Atlanta is installing 50 cigarette butt and ash receptacles in heavily traveled sidewalk areas - including outside retail and restaurant establishments, bars, hotels, office buildings, parking lots and bus shelters - as part of its recently launched Clean Streets recycling program.

Designed to reduce and properly dispose of downtown’s cigarette waste and to promote the city’s zero waste goals, Clean Streets was created by the mayor’s Office of Sustainability, the Department of Public Works and Keep Atlanta Beautiful. The city is partnering with the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District and recycling company TerraCycle to install the receptacles, which could be installed in other high traffic areas in the city in the future.

The collected cigarette waste will be sent to TerraCycle, which will donate $1 for every pound of cigarette butts recycled to Keep America Beautiful in order to fund and administer litter prevention efforts.

The city of Atlanta will provide public information public information and outreach about the program.

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The city of Brookhaven's mayor and City Council last week decided to remove the colored panes of glass from the dome of Brookhaven's new City Centre after residents objected to the brightness of the colors, seen here Friday, June 27, 2025. (Reed Williams/AJC)

Credit: Reed Williams/AJC