How to Recycle Items the County Doesn't Take

Keep Oconee County Beautiful Logo

First, the good news is that recycling in Oconee County is FREE AND SO EASY and, now MORE ITEMS THAN EVER BEFORE can be recycled due to the transformation of Athens-Clarke County's Recycling facility.

Oconee County's contractor who hauls the materials for recycling from the Oconee County Collection Sites takes them to ACC's recently upgraded facility where they are now doing "single stream" recycling of many more products, including plastics beyond just 1s and 2s and most every type of fiber including milk cartons, catalogs, magazines and more. View the Recycling Poster (PDF) to find a list of items that can be recycled.

CHaRM & Teacher Reuse Store

CHaRM Flyer with Information on Location and Hours
Teacher Reuse Store Flyer with Information on Location and Hours

The Center for Hard-to-Recycle Materials (CHaRM) accepts drop-off of materials that can't be recycled at Oconee County Collection Sites from Oconee County residents. Items accepted by CHaRM include appliances, batteries, electronics, mercury-containing devices, and paint.

The Teacher Reuse Store is co-located with the CHaRM facility and accepts office supplies, furniture, and more. Teachers may "shop" the store at no cost to help meet the needs of their classrooms.

The CHaRM and Teacher Reuse Store is located at 1005 College Avenue in Athens, and is open Mondays and Wednesdays  from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon. Click here to view the CHaRM and Teacher Reuse Store flyer.

Helpful Websites

The websites below may also be helpful for items that cannot be recycled for free at an Oconee County collection site:

  • The Earth911 website allows you to just type in the item and your zip code and it will tell you the nearest place to recycle that type of item.
  • TerraCycle wants to eliminate the idea of waste. They have created "national recycling systems for previously non-recyclable or hard-to-recycle waste. Anyone can sign up for these programs, called the Brigades, and start sending [them] waste" that is converted into "a wide variety of products and materials." Many of the brigades actually pay for the recyclables.

Ideas 

For more ideas, please contact the Keep Oconee County Beautiful Commission at 706-310-3560 or by email.