SPRINGFIELD – It’s a dirty job but someone has to do it.

In unincorporated Effingham County, “someone” is Atlantic Waste Services. The Pooler-based company has handled residential garbage collection in the county since 2018.

“Effingham County has been an absolutely tremendous partner,” said Ben Wall Jr., Atlantic Waste Services president and CEO. “The administration has been great and the elected officials have been wonderful.”

Atlantic Waste Services, established by Wall’s late father Burke in 1999, has garbage collection pacts with 38 government entities in southeast Georgia.

“Effingham County is one of the best to work with,” Wall said. “It has strong leadership everywhere and the people are good. I’m blessed to have them as a client.”

Atlantic Waste Services operates eight trucks in Effingham County. The fleet is a mixture of rear loaders and automated sider loaders. The side loaders can be operated by the driver, negating the need for a two-person crew.

“Our plan is to be fully transitioned to all side loaders by the end of the year,” Atlantic Waste Services Vice President Brad Bowman said. “With rear loaders, you have the driver and a guy on the back of the truck. The side loader has the automated arm that picks up the trash container.

“We’ve been doing that for almost a year and we’ve had a lot of success with it in Effingham County.”

Except Thanksgiving Day, Christmas and New Year’s Day, each of Atlantic Waste Service’s Effingham County trucks makes 700-1,100 daily stops Monday through Friday.

“The goal is to finish (each route) in less than 10 hours a day,” Bowman said. “The typical route is 8-10 hours.”

Trash kept in Atlantic Waste Services’ 96-gallon beige carts with green lids is collected at each customer’s site once a week. Recyclable materials kept in beige carts with yellow lids is picked up once every two weeks.

“We list all of our updated recycling and trash schedules on our website (www.atlanticwaste.com),” Bowman said.

Garbage collection is for “landfill only waste.” That means non-hazardous household and commercial refuse, including food scraps, glass bottles, used diapers, etc.

“That’s the household garbage, the smelly garbage,” Bowman said.

Atlantic Waste Services trucks haul the materials they collect to a state-permitted “transfer station” at 125-B Pine Meadow Drive in Pooler. The large building with a concrete floor provides a clean, fast, safe and convenient means of storing dumped loads. Separate piles are kept for different kinds of waste.

Garbage doesn’t stay at the transfer station long. It is loaded into 100 cubic yard transfer “tipper” trailers so it can be hauled to several public and private landfills in the area.

Most of Effingham County’s municipal solid waste is carried to Superior Landfill at 3001 Little Neck Road in Savannah. Recyclables are taken to Pratt Industries at 101 Kahn Industrial Court.

“We run transfer trucks every day,” Bowman said.

Atlantic Waste Services also operates the Effingham County Dry Waste and Recycling Center at 2750 Courthouse Rd. in Guyton. Residents can dispose large items like washing machines and old furniture there.

The fee at the collection center, open Wednesday through Saturday from 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m., is nine cents per pound or $180 per ton. Metal can be dropped off for free.

“We man the site with one of our staff,” Bowman said. “That’s something that a lot of people think that maybe the county pays for but that is something that we do ourselves with the contract.”

Atlantic Waste Services recently entered its second multi-year contract with the Effingham County Board of Commissioners. Coupled with its Statesboro operation, it employs 23 Effingham County residents.