City of Dalton residents collected 1,010.9 tons or 2,021,800 pounds of recyclables in 2009, exceeding the 1,000 tons goal set for the city of Dalton Curbside Recycling program in the fall of 2008. The 2,021,800 pounds of recyclables are the equivalent of a stack of newspapers 11 miles high.

The Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority staff, Norman Barashick, executive director; Liz Swafford, Recycling and Education Program coordinator; and mascot Recycling Ben recognized residents during the Monday City Council Meeting at City Hall.

Mayor Pennington and Councilwoman Wood accepted the award on behalf of the residents. Public Works Director Benny Dunn accepted the award on behalf of the Public Works Department. The drivers of the curbside recycling trucks, Dwayne Carvelle, Glen Gambrell and Derek Bagley, were also recognized for being the ones that get the job done on a daily basis. It’s estimated that together they handle more than 4,000 recycling bins per week.

This is the first time in the last five years that Dalton has exceeded the city of Rome, which has a similar population, in the collection of curbside recycling. Curbside recycling in Dalton serves 7,500 households with a participation rate of 37.4%, an increase from 30% in 2008. In 2009 Public Works distributed an additional 705 blue bins in the community. In addition the city improved its bottom line by more $32,000 from avoided landfill disposal fees and revenue sharing.

The city of Dalton’s Curbside Recycling program began in 1991. 2009 marked 18 years of environmental stewardship through recycling. Today, the city of Dalton provides one of the few curbside recycling programs in Northwest Georgia.

In 2003 the Curbside Recycling program began delivering its recyclable materials for processing to the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority. The Authority operates a Materials Recovery Facility or recycling center at the Old Dixie Landfill which sorts, processes, and markets the materials. Since that time, the amount of recyclables collected by residents has almost doubled.

Recycling reduces waste and pollution, saves energy, protects natural resources and environment, and is good for the economy, officials said. Many companies in Georgia, including local carpet manufacturers, rely on recycling programs to provide the raw materials they need to make new products.

To receive another bin call the Public Works Department at 706 278-7077. If residents have more than one bin, they should put the fiber materials, such as paper, cardboard, and newspaper, in one bin and everything else in the other.

For more information about recycling, contact Liz Swafford, Recycling and Education program coordinator, at 706 278-5001 or e-mail: lswafford@dwswa.org.

Members of the Public Works Department accepting the award. Click to enlarge.
- Photo2 by Doyal Swafford.