Atlanta residents who pulled their blue recycling bins to the curb Monday may have been surprised to see they were still full at the end of the day.
That’s because recycling in Atlanta isn’t being picked up this week. Announced earlier this month, the city is reducing recycling and yard trimming pickups to every other week, for at least the next three months. Trash will continue to be picked up every 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 city did not specify why the pickups are being reduced, but suggested it could be tied to COVID-19 cases among Department of Public Works employees.
“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 in a notice.
Future schedule changes “will be made based on the number of COVID-19 cases experienced by the department.”
