After a two-month delay, the Augusta landfill's $2 million recycling center opened to the public Monday, its bins already starting to fill with televisions, computer parts and glass bottles.

Those things weren't recyclable in Augusta before, nor were batteries, used auto oil and antifreeze, which the landfill also takes now.

The recycling center is situated on an elevated landing, accessible by paved roads, about a mile into the 1,200-acre city dump off Deans Bridge Road. It includes a drive-up station for household garbage, which Augusta Solid Waste Assistant Director Lori Videtto said will keep cars and trucks from having to traverse the landfill alongside commercial dump trucks.

Two men from a property management company were among the first visitors, pitching some trash over a ledge then putting three TV sets inside a blue shipping container.

"It's better for everybody," Alvin McFalls said, "because now you don't have to worry about getting a flat tire."

"Not to mention the mud," his co-worker Chris Freeman said.

The center had been scheduled to open in November. Ms. Videtto said that was delayed so the landfill could install guide rails and order signs to make it more user-friendly.

Signs marked "customer drop-off" point the way in. An attendant is posted at the recycling center in case someone needs help, and there's a trailer on site with men's and women's rest rooms.

Ms. Videtto said the landfill operates as an enterprise fund, meaning the $2 million came from profits, not tax dollars or special-purpose sales tax money.

Solid Waste had been making a profit of about $10 per ton off the curbside recycling program last year, with aluminum, plastics, newspapers, cardboard and other materials taken to recycling facilities in metro Atlanta that paid about $60 per ton.

But with the recycling commodities market "in the toilet," Ms. Videtto said, the city isn't earning anything now, but rather bearing the cost of diesel fuel for weekly drives to Atlanta and back.

"We're just sort of riding it out for right now," Ms. Videtto said. "It's just like the stock market. The commodities market will bounce back."

In the meantime, Solid Waste will continue its recycling program, she said. Nearly 7,000 of the city's 60,000 trash customers now have the 64-gallon roll carts, up from 5,778 last summer. The city collects about 200 tons per month of recyclables, compared to 42,000 tons per month of trash.

"It's not about the money," Ms. Videtto said of recycling. "It's the right thing to do. It's still right for the environment. It's still right for the landfill. It's still right for Augusta."

Reach Johnny Edwards at (706) 823-3225 or johnny.edwards@augustachronicle.com.