Macon-Bibb residents excited for expanded waste convenience center hours

Matt Childers uses the temporary convenience center on 11th Street in downtown Macon every four to six weeks.

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — Matt Childers uses the temporary waste convenience center on 11th Street in downtown Macon every four to six weeks.

He was there Wednesday getting rid of cardboard and excess trash. He says the center is to use, but there’s one issue.

“The only downside was trying to find some time during the week to get down here,” he said. “If you’ve got a lot of stuff so weekends will be great.”

Macon-Bibb County announced the temporary convenience center will be open seven days a week now from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Items you can drop off:

• Furniture
• Treated wood with the nails removed
• Toilets
• Sinks
• Old appliances
• Tile

Items that aren’t allowed:

• Household trash
• Roofing shingles
• Sheetrock
• Tires
• Batteries
• Paint
• Propane tanks
• Concrete
• Other liquids or hazardous materials

Solid Waste Manager Maurice Jackson says the county decided to expand the hours to give everyone the opportunity to use the convenience center.

“We’ve been looking for various ways to keep Macon-Bibb beautiful,” he said. “And this is one aspect of it. I’m glad to be apart of it to be able to see everything transforming into what it is right now.”

The hope is that expanding the temporary convenience center hours will be more convenient for people to drop off their trash and also curb problems like illegal dumping.

“Now with expanding on Saturday and Sunday, that will help eliminate illegal dumping on the weekends,” Jackson said.

Childers says the convenience center helps a lot.

“Especially with after Christmas and holidays,” he said .”You have extra boxes and stuff. It’s just good to be able to get rid of the excess stuff so it’s not sitting around.”

The county plans to eventually have more convenience centers, with one on 11th Street, another off Mercer University Drive, and another behind Animal Welfare on Fulton Mill Road. Official opening dates aren’t set yet.

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story listed “household trash” incorrectly. Residents are not allowed to take household trash to convenience centers.