Peachtree City Council members voted down a proposal that would have forced every household in the city to use the same trash collection company, siding with residents who packed public comment periods to defend their right to choose a hauler. Only Mayor Kim Learnard supported the plan; every other council member voted against it Thursday night.
The rejected proposal, first detailed by Atlanta News First, would have replaced the city's current three-hauler system with a single citywide contractor. City leaders had cited wear and tear from multiple garbage trucks rolling over city roads, as well as illegal dumping along Peachtree City's cart paths, as reasons to consolidate service under one provider. Council members said they will now look for other ways to address those road and dumping issues while preserving residents' choice of trash collection provider.
The proposal traces back to a Request for Proposals the city issued in July, seeking a single contractor to serve roughly 13,700 residential households. According to The Citizen, six companies bid on the contract — Amwaste, GFL Environmental, Republic Services, Red Oak, Ryland and Waste Pro — with Amwaste earning the top evaluation score, based on a scoring system that weighted price at 30% alongside customer service, fleet capabilities and recycling performance.
Residents Say Losing Choice Wasn't Worth the Savings
Amwaste's pitch centered on cost. Under its proposed single-hauler contract, quarterly base trash and biweekly recycling service was quoted at $63.45 per household, compared to existing private hauler rates ranging from roughly $87 to $126 per quarter, the same outlet reported. Optional yard waste and bulk pickup tiers were quoted at $75 and $85.56 per quarter, respectively.
But for many residents, the math wasn't the point. Peggy Dillie told Atlanta News First that residents strongly opposed the proposal and that council members listened. She said she likes her current trash service and that a citywide contract would remove her ability to choose. Dillie also argued that a sole-provider contract lasting three to five years would strip away customer-service options entirely.
Skip Shaper, another resident, said competition helps service and pricing, and warned that a sole trash carrier would leave residents without a way to change providers if they became dissatisfied. Opponents of the plan argued broadly that the problems city leaders cited — road wear and illegal dumping — should not come at the cost of eliminating residents' choice altogether.
An Online Petition Amplified the Pushback
The organized resistance wasn't limited to council chambers. A Change.org petition titled “Stop government-mandated single-provider waste collection in Peachtree City” argued that replacing private choices with a single hauler threatened free-market competition and risked creating a local monopoly with no customer-service accountability, according to the petition posted in August. Residents opposing the plan applauded the council's decision once the vote came down.
Roughly 1,400 Peachtree City residents currently do not pay for garbage pickup at all, according to Atlanta News First's reporting, underscoring how uneven participation is under the existing system even before any citywide mandate was considered. Under that current structure, homeowners contract independently with one of three city-franchised private haulers — GFL Environmental, Republic Services and Pollard Residential Waste Services — according to Peachtree City's official website. The city also assesses a mandatory $12 annual franchise fee per household through its approved haulers, with revenue funding the Keep Peachtree City Beautiful Fund for municipal recycling programs and public education.
Not the First Time This Idea Has Surfaced
This isn't the first time Peachtree City has weighed consolidating trash service. The city previously explored a single residential provider back in February 2019, aiming to curb heavy truck traffic and street wear, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. That effort, like this year's, never resulted in an exclusive citywide contract.
The city's unique infrastructure has repeatedly factored into these discussions. Peachtree City covers roughly 26 square miles and features more than 100 miles of paved multi-use paths used by over 10,000 registered golf carts, a design city leaders have pointed to as vulnerable to heavy truck damage and cart-path litter. The city, founded in 1959 and organized into five residential villages, had a population of 38,244 across about 13,700 households as of the 2020 Census, making it the largest city in Fayette County.
Council members held a formal presentation from Amwaste representatives on August 5, then deferred a final decision specifically to gather additional public feedback before Thursday's vote. That deliberation played out against a broader 2026 council effort to preserve local character, including a 180-day moratorium on medium- and high-density residential zoning enacted while officials review development regulations ahead of the city's 2027 Comprehensive Plan, as reported by The Citizen. For now, the road wear and illegal dumping concerns that started the debate remain unresolved, with council members left to search for solutions that don't touch residents' freedom to pick their own hauler.
