Marietta, GA Trash & Recycling: Pickup Rules & Schedules (2026)

Section 5-8-160 governs recyclable waste collection separately from regular garbage pickup. , with all nondisposable recycling containers required to come back off the curb by the end of the collection day, mirroring the timing rule for regular garbage. The section then addresses who owns the material once it is set out: upon placement at a designated recycling collection location or in a designated recycling container, the recyclable waste becomes the property of the city or its authorized recycling contractor. That ownership shift backs a flat prohibition on scavenging: no person other than the city or an authorized recyclable waste contractor may remove recyclable waste or material that has been placed at a designated recycling collection location or container.

The section does preserve a resident's own rights up to that point: nothing in it limits an individual, organization or other entity's right to donate, sell or otherwise dispose of recyclable waste material before it is placed for city collection, as long as that disposal follows the section's other requirements. The public works director enforces the section, in addition to whatever authority the police department otherwise holds under the Code, and a civil action by an authorized recycling contractor remains available separately from any criminal conviction.