Feet on the Street: Improving Recycling in Norcross

Feet on the Street, the city’s initiative to improve curbside recycling, reduce contamination and educate the community, will hit the streets of Norcross from Monday, September 13 through Friday, October 8, 2021.

Early in the morning each waste collection day during this period, staff wearing vests and City of Norcross identification will stop briefly at each residential recycling bin or cart set out curbside, and will make a visual assessment. They are checking for the presence of the most common and problematic contaminants in our recycling stream—recyclables that have been bagged; loose plastic bags and plastic wrap; glass; food and liquid; cords, hoses and chains; and electronics, batteries and propane tanks. These materials can’t be processed in our single-stream recycling program. 

If one or more of these items is noted, a hanging "oops" tag will be left on your bin or cart. This "oops" tag will signal Waste Management to skip your bin until the specified items have been removed. This will prevent contamination of the city’s recyclables and eliminate hazards for sanitation workers. 

If this happens to you, don’t worry! Just read the notes on the tag left by our team and remove the unacceptable items from your bin before the following week’s pickup. Our team will be checking each bin along the daily route for 4 weeks, providing feedback on each and every bin.

Currently, 47% of the recycling stream in Norcross is materials that don’t belong. To ensure that our recycling program keeps workers safe, helps the environment, and grows our economy, we need to improve! 

Please recycle only paper, waxed cartons, and flattened cardboard, including office paper and mail, juice and milk cartons, cereal boxes, shipping boxes, and pizza boxes; empty and dry plastic bottles and jugs, such as soda, water, shampoo, and detergent bottles; and empty and dry aluminum and steel food and drink cans. If an item is not on that list, please do not put it into your curbside recycling bin or cart. Look for recycling drop-off locations for these items instead.

Recycling right can be confusing, but we’re here to help! Check out the resources below for more information.