On Wednesday, June 14, 8 new recycling cans were installed along Cherry Street as part of several beautification projects to be occurring in coming months in the area. A ninth and final can will be installed on Thursday, June 15 about 9:15 a.m. in front of The Creek 100.9FM (533 Cherry Street).
 
These recycling cans were purchased by the Urban Development Authority in support of a Downtown Challenge Grant received by Keep Macon-Bibb Beautiful Commission for Macon-Bibb County’s Solid Waste and Parks & Beautification Departments to install 21 recycling cans and 19 new garbage cans around the urban core. Once both sets are installed, there will be 30 recycling cans available for the public to use.
 
“These cans show our commitment to cleanliness and sustainability by having cans that look nice and are not in people’s way, but are still easily accessible,” says Urban Development Authority Executive Director Alex Morrison. “Our Macon Action Plan identified people’s desire to have a clean and inviting environment Downtown, and providing recycling cans – and nice looking trash cans – was one of the things people said would go a long way to making that happen.”
                                   
“As we look for ways to make it easier for people to recycling, putting these cans where people live, visit, and walk regularly was a great next step, and having grant funds available allowed us to do it sooner than expected,” says Solid Waste Director Kevin Barkley.
 
“I want to thank our departments for what they do every day to keep our community clean,” says KMBBC Executive Director Pam Carswell. “With this grant, we wanted to provide residents and visitors Downtown to easily recycle.”
 
Recycling cans Downtown are the next step in the Solid Waste Department’s efforts to significantly increase the amount of material diverted from landfills. In January 2016, the Department expanded residential recycling to the entire county and has made 65-gallon rolling recycling containers available to homes. If a person would like to request a rolling recycling can for their home, call 478-803-0499 or use SeeClickFix on the Macon-Bibb County website or free mobile phone application.
 
Since the program expanded, more than 9,000 cans have been delivered, and monthly recycling collection has more than doubled from 301,480 pounds in January 2016 to 776,200 pounds in April 2017. Since January 2016, almost 11 million pounds of material have been recycled instead of being put in a landfill.
 
In addition to the recycling cans, the Parks & Beautification Department installed 31 dog waste stations (thanks to a grant received by KMBBC) to help people clean up after their animals.
 
“As Downtown continues to grow, we’re presented with new challenges, and people living and walking their dogs in our parks brought up an issue we didn’t have years ago,” says Parks & Beautification Director Sam Kitchens.