CHaRM

It’s convenient to place all items into curbside trash pickup rather than recycling them though this can cause prices to rise on a broad range of goods. Thus, it’s in our interest to recycle materials to keep costs down and avoid polluting our landfills.

For example, Dalton, GA, northwest of Atlanta, is known as the “Carpet Capital of the World”. Recycled plastic bottles can be used in the production of nylon carpet. Purchasing raw materials to make carpet is more expensive than using recycled plastic bottles.

Reducing the cost of carpeting used in homes and commercial buildings just took some work to make it easier to recycle at the curb and large gatherings like sporting events and concerts. Taking a moment to recycle plastic rather than trashing it saves money for all of us.

Many urban municipalities make it easy to recycle a limited collection of items like plastics, paper, cardboard and aluminum. Local recycling centers may accept a broader range of items like glass, electronics and mixed metals. How can we recycle when we have items that aren’t accepted in curbside recycling programs or local recycling centers?

What is a CHaRM?

CHaRM stands for Center for Hard to Recycle Materials. A CHaRM accepts items that are commonly found in households yet not commonly accepted in curbside recycling programs or local recycling centers. Atlanta has two CHaRM locations: one in south Atlanta and one in Decatur.

We wanted to better understand how a CHaRM works so we collected paint cans from the crawlspace of a house and a pair of four-foot fluorescent bulbs. The paint and related chemicals such as paint stripper had been accumulating in the crawlspace of the house across multiple owners.

We didn’t want the paint to find its way into a landfill where it could pollute the landfill with chemicals. The fluorescent bulbs contain mercury which could also pollute the landfill. We were concerned about these chemicals and compound finding their way out of the landfill and into groundwater.

Scheduling an Appointment at a CHaRM

The CHaRM requires an appointment to be made through a webpage. The process is simple and guarantees you’ll be able to drop off your items without waiting in a long line of others wishing to make a drop off. The appointment system is a great way to make your CHaRM visit very predictable and allow the CHaRM to operate at peak efficiency.

Check to be sure the CHaRM accepts the items you wish to recycle before you schedule an appointment. While they accept a broad range of items, they don’t accept everything. If they don’t accept the item you wish to recycle, ask if they have any guidance about organizations who can assist you.

We scheduled a late-morning appointment on a day when we had to be close to the CHaRM for an unrelated meeting. We loaded the items into the car the night before and were ready to go the morning of our appointment.

The CHaRM is like most other recycling centers: it has a marked entrance attended by a person who checks your reservation and you drive to the stations at which you need to drop off your items. In the image above, the green roofs are recycling stations and the staff set up temporary tents in other locations as needed.

In the image above, the electronics and paint + chemicals recycling stations are adjacent. We handed over our two fluorsecent bulbs first and then got some help unloading the paint cans and chemicals.

In the image above, we loaded these the day before our visit to be sure we could get everything into the vehicle. It took many trips to move this many containers. It’s important to note there are one-gallon paint cans, quart-size paint cans, some spray paint, paint sample containers and paint thinner. The CHaRM accepted all of these.

As with many recycling centers, there’s a small fee for recycling some materials. Paint and chemicals are weighed on the dolly in the image above to calculate the cost.

What’s pictured on the pallet above is what we brought to the CHaRM. We’ll tell you below how much this weighed. What would you guess? It’s difficult to tell since you don’t know how much paint is in each container.

The image above shows the price schedule for the CHaRM. You may be able to find better prices elsewhere so be sure to shop around. For example, the local recycling center only charges $10 for televisions and monitors while the CHaRM charges $25 yet recycling paint and chemicals is much less expensive at the CHaRM than local recycling centers.

The weight of what we brought to the CHaRM was 168 pounds. That a lot of paint and chemicals. Residents (of the area) get the first 20 pounds at no cost so we had to pay for 148 pounds plus $1 for our two fluorescent lamps. We fell into the range of $0.65/pound so the whole drop off was less than $100.

It was convenient to make the drop off and took a few minutes. Paying for recycling may be a shock to some people though we’re glad to have kept the chemicals and mercury out of our local landfill plus the metal paint cans will be recycled.

Every Large Community Needs a CHaRM

The need for a CHaRM becomes obvious when local recycling centers host a day for collection of items not accepted by the local recycling centers. For example, Cobb County, Georgia hosted what they called the “Keep Cobb Beautiful Annual Household Hazardous Waste Event” in June of 2023 at a local park.

Though the KCB event limited the number of paint cans and other items that could be recycled, the roads accessing the park were completely jammed in all directions due to the overwhelming interest in the opportunity. We gave up trying to reach the event, went home and unloaded the items we hoped to recycle.

This sort of response to recycling events makes it clear that large populations need a CHaRM that operates consistently so people can visit a few times each year to recycle items they don’t want to put into the landfill. Some of these items come from home renovation projects like replacing toilets and sinks - porcelain can be recycled.

Having a CHaRM in an urban area may mean people in rural areas can visit when traveling through the urban area. We attend meetings and conferences across Georgia each year so packing up recycling items to visit a CHaRM while we’re on the road wouldn’t be difficult.

Starting a CHaRM

If you wish to start a CHaRM in your area, you could start by speaking with an organization already successful in recycling items in your area. We’re in Cobb County. Georgia where there is no CHaRM despite the obvious demand.

It would be helpful to speak with Live Thrive, the organization that operates the two CHaRM locations in the Atlanta area, so we can learn what’s involved before approaching local officials in Cobb County. It’s more difficult for local officials so say “no” when there’s a working model in the area.

We appreciate you may not want to personally start a CHaRM though you’ll need some interested parties who are also willing to advocate for a local CHaRM if you want your local government to open a CHaRM. You could schedule a visit to a CHaRM in your area to let potential advocates see what it is and how it works.

If you schedule a visit, it would be helpful to ask to speak with CHaRM staff in advance rather than asking them to stop what they’re doing to speak with you about establishing a local CHaRM. You might discover the staff would also like to expand to your area - they just need local advocates like you.

Let Us Know

We’d like to know if you’re starting a CHaRM or helping to expand what your local recycling center collects. Public outreach is another key aspect - it’s important to let the public know about the resources available so they can take advantage of them.

We’d be happy to learn from and share your successes so we invite you to use our Contact page to share your questions and guidance.

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