A senior official from the Department of Public Works told the Atlanta City Council that illegal dumping is a top priority, is “rampant,” and is costly to operations and service quality. The department reported a solid‑waste performance metric of 97% and a landfill diversion rate around 16% (municipalities typically range 12%–20%). The presentation emphasized three priorities: illegal dumping and enforcement (including its link to encampments), productivity improvements and landfill diversion through recycling and circular‑economy partnerships.

The department said it has identified roughly 122 repeat dumping locations and described plans to increase special‑ops enforcement, redeploy street‑sweeping and enforcement resources to hotspots, and pilot camera systems with license‑plate‑reader capability to work with the Atlanta Police Department on enforcement. The department announced a tire amnesty day at Greenbrier and said it will publicize the event.

Council Members questioned why District 12’s heat‑map rate is higher (reported at 22%) than the next highest district (about 11.2%). The department said evidence such as outside addresses on dumped material indicates some dumps originate outside city limits and that license‑plate readers should strengthen enforcement. Members also raised staffing and HR needs: one council member noted roughly 776 employees operate the fleet and suggested the department scale staffing to match housing growth; the department said HR numbers would be updated and provided later.

Separately, Council Member Andrea Boone raised a constituent complaint that bulk collection was missed in District 10; DPW staff acknowledged the scheduling gap and said adjustments would be made with service restored by the end of the week.