Georgia state law requires that each recycler register annually with their local sheriff’s department. If the recycler has multiple locations, that registration and payment must be made for each site.
Sheriffs do not issue annual invoices, so it is up to the recycler to arrange the yearly registration and payment of the $200 registration fee. This requirement also applies to transient recyclers (businesses who are buying or selling regulated metal property from other Georgia recyclers).
Pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 10-1-359.1, secondary metals recyclers who purchase regulated metal property in any quantity must register with the sheriff’s office(s) in the county(s) that they operate within.
A secondary metals recycler is defined as:
- Any person who is engaged, from a fixed location or otherwise, in the business in this state of paying compensation for regulated metal property that has served its original economic purpose, whether or not engaged in the business of performing the manufacturing process by which regulated metal property is converted into raw material products consisting of prepared grades and having an existing or potential economic value.
The sheriff’s office registers the recycler, maintains a record of each, and enters the registration information into a statewide database searchable by law enforcement and the public.
If the individual or business collects, hauls, or obtains metal without paying for it, registration is not required.