It’s pretty typical these days to toss your plastic container or glass bottle in the recycling bin, but other items likely don’t get the same treatment. Before you throw your styrofoam cooler or bin of dead batteries into the trash, though, consider giving those hard-to-recycle items a new life through a local Atlanta facility.
The Center for Hard to Recycle Materials (CHaRM) is a permanent drop-off facility in Peoplestown, managed by nonprofit Live Thrive, that diverts household hazardous waste and other difficult-to-recycle items from metro’s landfills and water systems.
Founder and Executive Director Peggy Ratcliffe started Live Thrive in 2009 and opened the CHaRM facility in 2015 because she saw a hole in Atlanta’s recycling and waste services. While cleaning out her parents’ home after they passed away, Ratcliffe realized how many everyday items could be repurposed rather than tossed in the landfill.
And the drop-off facility, located at 1110 Hill Street SE, is growing in popularity. In 2021 alone, CHaRM saw around 62,680 visitors, and recycled and repurposed 4.8 million pounds of material. “My father was a gardener and had pesticides and herbicides that I knew shouldn’t be put in the curbside bin,” Ratcliffe said. “So that sent me on a mission to find out what you’re supposed to do with these things in the City of Atlanta.”