Henry County, GA Trash & Recycling: Recycling Requirements (2026)

Section 3-5-102(a) prohibits placing or depositing any excluded item into the waste stream, naming batteries and tires as items that must instead be recycled, routed through the licensee pickup process described in Sections 3-5-105(c) and 3-5-108(e). The companion residential-service rule at Section 3-5-105(3) goes further and makes recycling mandatory for every residential customer: licensees must collect items from a county-approved list of recyclables at least monthly, the board of commissioners can change the type and number of accepted recovered materials, and licensees may not dispose of recovered materials in landfills.

The code states the intent that all zones and licensees have recycling service at the curb no later than July 1, 1996. Once recyclables are placed in the designated recycling container for collection, Section 3-5-105(4) makes them the licensee's property, and during the 24 hours before a scheduled collection, only the licensee's employees or agents may remove material from that container; unauthorized removal, known as recycling theft or scavenging, is itself a violation of the article. Licensees operating under a county license must also meet Georgia Department of Natural Resources solid waste handling permit requirements under Section 3-5-104 and report tonnage of recovered materials collected, by type, to the occupational tax office twice yearly, with proof of movement to a recognized recycling facility.