UPDATED: Blue Recyclable Bins Replace Mini Black Ones

UPDATED Dec. 28: City public works officials say the holidays have led to a delay in deliveries and that they have a target completion date of Jan. 17. Anyone with issues or questions is asked to call 404.330.6333.

ORIGINAL POST: By now, nearly every Atlanta home should have received the 96-gallon blue recyclable rubbish bin.

Those blue cans replace the smaller, black 18-gallon bins, residents have been using.

That's caused some confusion from some residents who now have both. The city's public works department says residents may continue to use both as they see fit.

If the no longer want to use both they can simply place the black bins in the blue ones and the city will recycle them. And Patch reader Mark Rutkowski notes residents also may call the city at 404.330.6333 and public works officials will retrieve the old receptacles within two to three days.

The larger bins are part of Mayor Kasim Reed's push to reduce the city's costs related to trash.

Currently, city residents produce 96,000 tons of trash annually, which costs the city $7 million a year to dispose of in landfills.

But Atlanta residents only recycle about 12,000 tons per year, leading Reed's push to reduce what goes to landfills.

In addition to the environmental benefits, diverting recyclables from landfills produces revenue for the city at a rate of $30 per ton.