“The first couple of years the recycling system lost money because we were not able to process enough material to offset costs,” Tyler said. “Currently, because of the prices paid for recycled materials, we are able to pay our bills and produce small excess revenues.”

Today, there are recycling centers open 24 hours a day that accept materials from both city and county residents.

There are two on Remington Avenue — one at Butler-Mason YMCA and the other behind the Marguerite Neel Williams Boys & Girls Club — and the other at Wal-Mart.

Recyclable items accepted include cardboard, newspaper, magazines, tin cans, aluminum cans, glass and office paper. The city disposes of accepted recyclable materials only if they have been contaminated.

“The materials are dropped into large capacity containers that have divided compartments,” Tyler explained. “These large cans are pulled to the baling center on Davenport Drive. At the center, inmates sort and separate the material and bale it for transport and delivery to the mills.”

Materials are currently shipped for sale in Georgia, Florida and Alabama.

In 2008, according to a solid waste report, vendors from Thomasville, Albany, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Fla., and Tallahassee, Fla., recycled 1,965 tons of items. This resulted in a savings of $38,761 in landfill costs.

“We sell the material and use the funds to offset the expense of running the program,” Tyler said.

The early years garnered approximately 643 tons of materials a year, he said. Today, the program receives approximately 2,000 tons a year.

“The increase is due in part to commercial businesses and their using the centers to recycle cardboard and reduce their waste removal costs,” he said.

Dyksterhouse said the city has doubled its recycling efforts in the past year, an “amazing” feat.

“The state has a recycling rate of 18 percent and, right now, the city is around 17.4 percent. That is progress, but it is still such a small piece. There is a lot of room for expansion in the program.”

Ways he proposes this expansion continue is by actively educating the public on the program, curbside recycling and getting the county more active in the endeavor.

Tyler said the city offers litter reduction services, including yearly community-wide clean-up campaigns, and is also looking at reviving its “Adopt-A-Mile” program.

Other possibilities are additional containers or servicing the drop-off centers more frequently to keep up with the demand, as well as allowing mixing of different items in containers at sites in order to save space.