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What Happens to Your Recyclables?

Ninety-six percent of all items brought to CHaRM will be recycled, re-purposed or re-engineered.

A few items, such as fertilizer and expired medicines, are incinerated in a controlled environment. Items brought to us for reuse will be distributed to local nonprofits working with children, veterans or other groups in need.

All vendors working with CHaRM have been fully vetted by Live Thrive and other necessary agencies. Continuing our mission to maintain a low carbon footprint, all vendors are located in the Southeastern United States.

Styrofoam

Styrofoam

Station #1

Blue Goblin

Blue Goblin transports the densified Styrofoam from CHaRM to Dow Chemical, where it is made into home insulation.

Cardboard

Cardboard

Station #1

WestRock Industries

WestRock Industries believes that sustainability is the fiber of their company. Mixed paper and shredded paper collected at CHaRM can be processed five to seven times and made into new boxes.

Musical Instruments

Musical Instruments

Station #2

The Gift of Music Foundation

We partner with the Gift of Music Foundation to clean up and refurbish used instruments. Refurbished instruments are given to local children who may not otherwise be able to afford them. The Gift of Music Foundation also uses the instruments in their After School Music Enrichment Programs.

Bikes

Bikes/Bike Parts

Station #2

Free Bikes 4 Kidz

Old bikes gathering dust in the garage? CHaRM can help with that too! We take your old bikes and give them to Free Bikes 4 Kidz (FB4K).FB4K is a non-profit organization geared toward helping all kids ride into a happier, healthier childhood by providing bikes to those most in need. CHaRM donates gently used bikes and FB4K organizes volunteers to clean and refurbish them to give way to kids in need.

Electronics

Electronics

Station #3

Novus Solutions

Novus Solutions works every day to ensure that your obsolete electronics equipment are handled with integrity. They keep customers’ data secure with individualized processes that fit each customer’s needs. Electronics collected at CHaRM are reused, if possible, or deconstructed and parts are recycled.

Document Shredding

Document Shredding

Station #4

WestRock Industries

WestRock Industries believes that sustainability is the fiber of their company. Mixed paper and shredded paper collected at CHaRM can be processed five to seven times and made into new boxes.

Paint

Paint

Station #4

Clean Harbors

Clean Harbors believes that sustainability is their responsibility to the environment, society and the economy. Paint and most household chemicals are made into biofuels. A few chemicals, fertilizers and medications that cannot be reused or recycled are incinerated in an environmentally safe manner.

Chemicals

Chemicals

Station #4

Clean Harbors

Clean Harbors believes that sustainability is their responsibility to the environment, society and the economy. Paint and most household chemicals are made into biofuels. A few chemicals, fertilizers and medications that cannot be reused or recycled are incinerated in an environmentally safe manner.

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous

Station #4

Various Partners

AirCycle
Blue Rhino
Clean Harbors
Fulton Metal Recycling
Kiddle

Matresses

Mattresses

Station #5

Metro Atlanta Furniture Bank

CHaRM takes your old mattresses and partners with the Furniture Bank of Metro Atlanta to redistribute the mattresses to disaster areas. Furniture Bank of Metro Atlanta takes the used mattresses, dismantles them, sanitizes them and then restuffs the mattresses to make them as good as new! In 2019, more than 1500 mattresses donated by CHaRM were given to families that lost their homes in the California wildfires and hurricanes in the Gulf Coast.

Compost

Compost

Station #6

CompostNow

CHaRM partners with CompostNow for residential compost, including plant materials, fruit and vegetable scraps, pasta, bread, cereal, coffee grounds, tea bags, paper towels, pizza boxes, egg shells, etc. The compost collected at CHaRM is shared with local farmers.

CookingOil

Cooking Oil

Station #6

Southern Green Industries

Southern Green Industries is a locally owned and operated company that takes cooking grease and turns it into biofuel. 100% of recovered cooking oils get recycled into cleaner-burning biodiesel, a direct replacement for petroleum-based diesel fuel.

Tires

Tires

Station #7

Liberty Tire Recycling

Liberty Tire Recycling is a leading North American conservation enterprise. For nearly two decades, they have been dedicated to finding new and better ways to RECLAIM, RECYCLE and REUSE scrap tires. Tires collected at CHaRM are made into mulch or processed into a liquid that fills potholes in our city streets.

Donations and Textiles

Donations/Textiles

Station #8

America’s Thrift Stores

Used clothes and textiles that are dropped off at CHaRM are repurposed as much as possible by America’s Thrift Stores.  They resell those items and share their profits with local organizations like Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA). Used textiles that cannot be resold are repurposed into insulation, dog beds or rags.

Flat Glass

Flat Glass

Station #9

Strategic Materials

Strategic Materials is the premier glass recycler on the continent. The glass collected at CHaRM can be made into a variety of materials such as new glass or insulation. Recycling glass takes 30% of the energy required to produce glass from raw materials.
Glass

Food Grade Glass

Station #10

Strategic Materials

Strategic Materials is the premier glass recycler on the continent. The glass collected at CHaRM can be made into a variety of materials such as new glass or insulation. Recycling glass takes 30% of the energy required to produce glass from raw materials.
Appliances

Appliances

Station #10

Fulton Metal Recycling

CHaRM partners with Fulton Metal Recycling to recycle metals. Metals are melted down and made into new metal products. Did you know that by recycling scrap metal, rather than using virgin materials, CO2 emissions are reduced by 58%?

metals

Metals

Station #11

Fulton Metal Recycling

CHaRM partners with Fulton Metal Recycling to recycle metals. Metals are melted down and made into new metal products. Did you know that by recycling scrap metal, rather than using virgin materials, CO2 emissions are reduced by 58%?

Paper

Paper/Books

Station #12

WestRock Industries

WestRock Industries believes that sustainability is the fiber of their company. Mixed paper and shredded paper collected at CHaRM can be processed five to seven times and made into new boxes.

Plastic

Plastics

Station #14

WestRock Industries + Nexus Fuel

Plastic #1 goes to Indorama to be made into more beverage bottles.

Plastic #2 goes to KW Plastic to be converted into new plastic.

Click to view video.

Plastics #4, 5, 6, plastic film, straws go to Nexus Fuels to make into biofuel and more plastic.

Click to view video.

Recycling by the Numbers

In 2022 alone, we had more than 75,000 visitors to CHaRM and recycled 121 tons of Styrofoam, 258 tons of chemicals, 245 tons of glass, 3,598 mattresses and much more, for a total of 2,800 tons of recycled materials during the year.

5.6 Million Pounds of Recycled Materials in 2022!

Pounds of Styrofoam

Pounds of Chemicals

Pounds of Glass

Mattresses