DEARBORN, Mich. – A new contract for the pick up of residential trash and recyclable materials will introduce a more efficient curbside collection system, encourage even more recycling, reduce blowing litter and improve the overall look of neighborhoods on “trash day”.
The City approved a seven-year contract with Republic Waste Services for curbside trash, recycling and yard waste collection on Monday. The contract and the new automated collection system are effective in July.
All materials currently picked up will still be collected at the curb under the new contract.
And, as part of the improvements, all Dearborn households will receive two containers for the storage and curbside pickup of their trash and recyclable materials. The trash container will be gray and the recycling container will be dark green.
New Receptacle Carts
These 96-gallon containers, known as carts, have wheels and handles so they can be easily maneuvered from storage areas to the curbside and back. They also have attached hinged lids to keep out pests, reduce odors and prevent blowing litter. These two carts will be delivered to every Dearborn households beginning in mid-May, with all households receiving them by the end of June. Delivery will be to about 1,000 homes a day and take six weeks.
Curbside collection using the new carts will begin the week of July 5. The carts cannot be used for trash/recycling storage until then.
Under the new system, residents will be instructed to recycle every other week. This will be more convenient than taking recyclable bins back and forth each week. Recycling schedules will be included in a comprehensive information packet to be delivered with the carts.
The larger 96-gallon carts will make it easier for residents to recycle in other ways. They will no longer need to sort or bundle recyclable materials. All qualified materials can be placed loose inside the 96-gallon cart as part of a system known as single-stream recycling.
Residents shouldn’t be concerned to see their recycling cart emptied into a truck without any sorting. The sorting of the materials takes place at the recycling facility.
The City’s contract with Republic will help contain costs for trash and recycling collection moving into the future, because the company uses an efficient, automated system for pickup.
Residents will be instructed on how to place the carts on the easement in front of their homes and behind the curb so that Republic’s trucks can pick up the carts. The carts should be placed so the handles face the house. An electronic arm on the trash and recycling trucks can grab and empty the carts easily and set them back on the easements. The carts should not be placed in the street. That rule is the same as exists now.
Although many residents will experience some minor changes with the new system that begins in July, Dearborn has been operating a similar program in a pilot area in neighborhoods in the northeast end of the City since the fall of 2008. The pilot area has experienced less litter, fewer rodent and pest problems and a marked increase in participation in the curbside recycling program.
Under the new contract with Republic, curbside yard waste collection will essentially stay the same. Just as now, residents can put yard waste in paper landscaping bags or in their own containers, specially marked for yard waste collection, and follow all of the city’s existing rules.
Find out more information at www.cityofdearborn.org.