The City of Columbus first introduced the Recycling Pilot Program in late 1992. It consisted of four areas with 1,000 homes in each area. Gathering information and determining the best collection method was the initial purpose of this program. Questions were asked as to which material to recycle, what the collection days would be for the different areas and what type of container to use for collection.
A year later, thirteen new subdivisions were added to the Pilot Program, as well as a voluntary recycling program outside of the Pilot Program area. With such success, the City of Columbus implemented its voluntary city wide recycling program in 1994 and currently, there is an estimated 55% participation rate.
Nowadays each household has a “Blue Bin” which is emptied weekly by the garbage pickup. Recyclable items which can be placed in the blue bin include: Paper (magazines / newspapers / phone books) Glass, Aluminum and Steel Cans, Plastics (pet#1 and hdpe#2), Automotive Fluids (antifreeze / transmission fluid / motor oil) and Cartridges (ink / toner).
It is requested the following items are not placed in the blue bins: Garbage, Cardboard, Food containers (TV dinners / plant containers), yard waste, plastic or paper bags, plastic oil containers (containers that had motor oil or cooking oil in them), drinking glasses or window glass, aluminum foil (jams sorting machinery), bottle caps or lids.
To find out more visit this informative website: www.columbusga.org/publicservices2/recycle.htm