City to go to subscription based recycling service
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By Pamela Permar-Shierling
After hearing that the City of Brunswick is losing approximately $116,000 a year on its recycling services, the City Commission voted to suspend the current curbside recycling service Dec. 31, 2026 and make it a subscription-only service April 1, 2027 when the city signs a new contract with a provider. Request for Proposals for the garbage pick up service are due back to the city mid-November.
Under this arrangement, homeowners and business owners who wish to participate in curbside recycling will subscribe for the service through the City’s sanitation provider. The subscription will include bi-weekly curbside service, and the rates will be set by the service provider. All subscriptions and fee collection will be handled by the provider.
Public Works Director Garrow Alberson told the commission during last night’s meeting (Nov. 4) that the participation rates for the recycling service are low and audits have identified significant contamination in the collection stream.
Contamination includes household garbage, yard waste, food-contaminated containers, non-recyclable plastics and bulky items. Many households use recycling containers as additional garbage cans.
Because of the contamination of the recycling stream, the material may be rejected by the recycling facility and end up in the landfill.
Alberson said Republic Services recently conducted two audits of the recycling program and found that only 34% of eligible customers participated in the recycling program.
Of those who do recycle there was an average contamination rate of 29%.
The city’s service currently provides weekly garbage service; yard maintenance debris pick up and bi-weekly recycling. The services are provided by Republic Services through a contract with the City of Brunswick. All subscribed customers are billed through the City Billing Department.
Commissioner Felicia Harris asked how much the sanitation bill would decrease when the recycling service is dropped.
Alberson said that would depend on which service provider is chosen and what the new rates were. He plans to have information to present to the finance committee at the end of November and a recommendation for a service provider at the first meeting in December.
Harris also questioned if there would be a refund to citizens and businesses for dropping the recycling service since the sanitation fees for 2027 have been included on the current tax billing and will be paid before the end of 2026.
City Manager Regina McDuffie pointed out that what the customer pays to the city does not cover the city’s cost for sanitation pick up.
Residents currently pay $25.50 per month for garbage, yard trash and recycling. The city’s cost for the same service is $27.72 per month which is a $26.64 per year loss per address.
Harris said residents needed to understand that the city currently ‘supplemented’ the service and that there would be no fee refund even though the recycling service would be eliminated from the city’s service.
“It’s a delicate matter,” Harris continued. “People are already fussing about what they are paying now and about it being put on their property tax bill.”
“Now you are taking something (a service) away from them. How are we going to make sure they have a good understanding of the situation?” she asked.
Alberson told the commission that city staff will work with agencies such as Keep Golden Isles Beautiful to provide education and information on dropoff location and alternate recycling options until the subscription takes effect with the new contract. City staff will also publish information on social media, websites and other outlets, along with visits to NPA’s to inform citizens of the changes to the program.
