DPW announces July 1 changes to weekly refuse collection

Date: 6/28/2010

June 28, 2010.

By Debbie Gardner

Assistant Managing Editor

LONGMEADOW -- Residents will see some changes to their weekly refuse and recycling collection beginning July 1, as Allied Waste of Chicopee begins a five-year refuse hauling contract with the town.

According to Director of Public Works Michael Wrabel, the first change will be the number of trucks that come through for weekly collections.

"Presently there are two trucks that stop at every house," Wrabel said. "The new company has brand-new equipment [which are] split-body trucks -- refuse will be put into one side and recyclables into the other."

He said someone watching from their front window might not see the difference in the structure of the truck and be concerned the town has stopped its recycling program.

"We want to get the word out. [We don't want people thinking,] 'Why am I bothering to recycle if they are throwing it out with the trash?'" Wrabel said. "We want to encourage people to continue to recycle and let them know that we have a new vendor [with new equipment]."

And though Allied Waste will be sticking to the same schedule in respect to the day of the week that refuse and recyclables are collected in a given area, Wrabel said the second change could well be the time that a homeowner's collection is picked up.

He said because of this potential time change, beginning July 1, it will be "very important that people have their refuse and recycling out at 7 a.m." on their collection day.

"Because [people] are creatures of habit, if they know the trash truck usually comes at 1 p.m., they may not put their items out until noon," Wrabel said. "If you don't have [your collection] out there [beginning July 1], your house is going to be missed."

In the past, Wrabel said, if homeowners were late and missed the first truck, the second truck "could call and let it know items were out there." With the one truck system, if a house is missed the homeowner will have to bring his refuse back in and wait for the next week's collection.

The third change will relate to the recycling of cardboard. To accommodate the new equipment, Wrabel said homeowners must cut all cardboard down to pieces measuring no larger than 2 feet by 2 feet, and all cardboard must be stacked.

"If you purchase, say, a television, you can't put the box out and fill it with other recyclables [now]," he reiterated.

In regards to other recyclables such as glass, plastic and metal food containers and paper, Wrabel encouraged residents to "recycle as much as they want."

When it comes to regular household refuse, however, Wrabel said he is "asking our new vendor to continue to implement the [one can or 40 pounds] limitation on how much refuse a household can generate."

"If extra bags are put out there, our contractor is going to tag them and leave them," he said.

The exception to the leave-behind rule will be extra refuse put out in the approved blue bags, which carry the town logo. Wrabel said these bags, priced at $8.75 for a pack of five, are available at the Big Y supermarket, Armatas and the two CVS pharmacies in town.

One final change will be the addition of a fee-based bulk item pick-up option of such things as furniture, appliances and carpeting through Allied Waste. To arrange for this service, residents need to contact Allied Waste directly at 592-9411.

Wrabel said residents with questions should visit the town's Web site at www.longmeadow.org or call the Department at 567-3400.