With National Recycling Month underway and America Recycles Day just around the corner, Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful is living up to its purpose of “Connecting People and Resources for a Sustainable Gwinnett” by offering a crash course in Recycling 101. After all, recycling works only when all residents have access and fully engage with the practice every day. By working together, we can protect our community and the environment for future generations.

Did You Know…?

• Recycling conserves natural resources, preserves forests and ecosystems, reduces energy use, cuts greenhouse gas emissions, and keeps waste out of landfills. It also supports hundreds of thousands of jobs and generates billions in wages and tax revenue.
• The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that each person in the U.S. generates 4.9 pounds of waste per day. Meanwhile, the average American only recycles 1.16 pounds of that waste per day.
• The United States currently recycles or composts only 32.1% of its municipal solid waste. Municipal solid waste – common household trash – does not include industrial, hazardous, or construction waste. The Recycling Partnership’s 2024 State of Recycling report indicates that only 21% of recyclables from U.S. homes are actually recycled. An estimated 76% is thrown in the trash at home. Cardboard is the most recycled material – representing roughly half of everything the country recycles by weight.
• 91% of the world’s plastic waste is not recycled. An estimated 9% of plastic waste is recycled, 19% is incinerated, almost 50% goes to sanitary landfills, and the remaining 22% is mismanaged, often littering our landscapes and waterways. The United States has the worst record, recycling only about 5% of plastic waste. Unfortunately, plastic consumption has quadrupled worldwide over the past 30 years. Sadly, statistics show that the equivalent of one garbage truck’s worth of plastic is dumped into the ocean every 60 seconds.
• Aluminum is infinitely recyclable and one of the most recycled materials. Recycled aluminum saves 94% of the carbon and 93% of the energy needed to make new aluminum. An estimated 75% of all aluminum ever produced globally is still in use today.

How to Recycle in Gwinnett County

• Residents of unincorporated Gwinnett County benefit from single-stream, curbside recycling – this means all items accepted at the curb can be collected in one container instead of being separated. Items accepted curbside include:
  • Plastic Bottles and Containers, including #1 (PETE) Soda and water bottles and #2 (HDPE) Milk jugs and detergent bottles
  • Metals, including food and beverage cans, aluminum baking tins and food containers, empty aerosol cans, tin and food cans
  • Paper/Paper Products – including brochures, computer/writing/notebook paper, greeting cards, junk mail, magazines & catalogs, newspaper, 

paper grocery bags, and paperback books

• Flattened Cardboard and Paperboard – including pizza boxes, shipping/moving boxes, detergent/soap boxes, dry food boxes, paper towel/toilet paper rolls, and shoe boxes
• If you live in unincorporated Gwinnett County and receive trash services, but do not currently have a recycling bin, you can request a 65-gallon recycling cart by contacting Gwinnett County Solid Waste Management at 770.822.7141.
• Plastic Bags, plastic film, batteries, foam cups and containers, and glass are not accepted curbside.
• Glass can be recycled at the following locations throughout the county:
  • Bethesda Park – 225 Bethesda Church Road, Lawrenceville
  • Bogan Park – 2723 North Bogan Road, Buford
  • Collins Hill Aquatic Center – 2200 Collins Hill Road, Lawrenceville
  • Duncan Creek Park – 3700 Braselton Highway, Dacula
  • Harbins Park (at baseball complex entrance) – 3200 New Hope Road, Dacula
  • Lenora Park (at football field entrance) – 4500 Lenora Church Road
  • Lucky Shoals Park – 4651 Britt Road, Norcross
  • Mountain Park Aquatic Center – 1063 Rockbridge Road, Stone Mountain
  • OneStop Norcross – 5030 Georgia Belle Court (24/7)
  • Peachtree Ridge Park – 3170 Suwanee Creek Road, Suwanee
  • Pinckneyville Park (near the baseball complex) – 4758 S Old Peachtree Road (24/7)
  • Rabbit Hill Park (at football field entrance) – 401 Rabbit Hill Road, Dacula
  • Snellville Recycling Center – 2531 Marigold Road
  • Lawrenceville Public Works – 435 W Pike Street
  • E.E. Robinson Park (baseball/softball complex entrance) -885 Level Creek Road
• If an item isn’t accepted curbside, check Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful’s Recycling Page and type the material into the search bar to learn where it can be recycled. You can also take part in one of our community recycling events – such as our Earth Day recycling event, our America Recycles Day event, or one of our Household Hazardous Waste Collection Days – to help rid your home of hard-to-recycle items.
• Recycling may vary by municipality, so if you live within city limits, be sure to check your respective municipality’s website for additional recycling information.

How to Prepare Recycling in Gwinnett County

To help ensure that you don’t contaminate the recycling stream, please take the following steps to prepare your curbside items to be recycled:

• Do NOT bag your recycled items in plastic bags
• Do NOT include electronics, glass, hazardous wastes, packing peanuts, plastic chairs, or Styrofoam in your recycling bin
• Do NOT place batteries in the recycling or trash bin.  They contain flammable materials and can ignite – potentially causing a truck fire and endangering waste workers. You can look up places that accept them for recycling on the GC&B website or bring them to our next Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day.
• If an item is smaller than a credit card – such as a plastic cap or metal tab, it should go in the trash and not the recycling bin
• Rinse aluminum cans, plastic jars, and plastic squeeze bottles so they’re empty, clean, dry, and 100% food-free
• Remove liners and food residue from pizza boxes before placing them in the cart

Tips for Reducing Your Carbon Footprint

• In addition to recycling whenever possible, you can REDUCE the amount of waste you create by reducing the amount of materials you use (only purchase and use what you need). You can also REUSE materials when possible – like glass jars for storage.
• Shop for products made with recycled materials.
• Buy items that prioritize less packaging.
• Buy refillable, reusable containers, like insulated water bottles and glass food containers.
• Bring your own reusable bags to the store.
• Ask to be removed from paper mailing lists.
• Don’t throw away anything that can be reused or repaired.
• Donate or recycle unwanted used electronics.
• Print on both sides of paper… and use recycled paper.
• Compost your food scraps and yard waste.

If you’re already doing some or all of the practices outlined above, we applaud and thank you! If you’ve been meaning to recycle more, we hope this article inspires you to take action. For more environmental tips, be sure to bookmark the blog at GwinnettCB.org!