Athens-Clarke commissioners want to require businesses and apartment complexes to provide recycling for customers and tenants, but they might delay implementing the law until next fall when they vote on it Aug. 7.

Commissioner Doug Lowry, who co-chairs a solid waste task force with Commissioner Kelly Girtz, said at an agenda-setting meeting Thursday that he's spoken to dozens of property owners about the law. "If this thing is made mandatory, many of them are not going to be able to comply with it," he said. "It's physically impossible to put ... Dumpsters in some of these parking lots."

That might be the case in the short run, but officials have to think long-term because Athens will eventually run out of landfill space, Girtz said. "The rollout will be challenging, but it's the type of challenge we should be doing in this community," he said.

The law was set to go into effect May 1, put Commissioner Kathy Hoard proposed delaying it for several more months, winning over Mayor Nancy Denson, who had been skeptical. "Our goal is not to be punitive," Hoard said. "Our goal is to make our community a better place to live for today and tomorrow."

Commissioners have been pushing for years to boost the recycling rate in Athens. After starting a single-stream recycling program, putting recycling receptacles at businesses and apartment complexes is the next step. Hoard said she's seen recyclable trash like cans and pizza boxes in trash receptacles at apartment complexes. She also noted that adding recycling bins would mean fewer trash receptacles taking up space.

Before the law goes into effect, Athens-Clarke Solid Waste Department employees will work with property owners to figure out how to fit the receptacles onto their property. The department is hiring a new recycling coordinator with a 50-cent monthly fee on trash customers the commission approved last year.