Toledo trash cans due next month
10/7/2009Toledo's switch to automated refuse pickup will get rolling during the third week of November, the Finkbeiner administration announced yesterday.
The new 180,000 trash and recycling containers - which cost the city $9.67 million to buy two for every household - will start arriving in the city Nov. 16, when locally hired workers are to start assembling the carts.
"The biggest problem is going to be making sure everyone in the city gets their carts," said Julian Highsmith, the city's solid waste commissioner. "I mean, we are talking about 180,000 carts … and we expect some complaints because this is … something new."
The city's new timeline says delivery will begin Nov. 30 and go through the spring.
A gray container will be for trash and a blue one will be for all recyclable material. Residents will get two 96-gallon containers unless they had requested 64-gallon or 48-gallon containers.
Council on July 7 agreed to spend $12.2 million to buy 40 automated garbage trucks, which would be paid for through the city's general fund with savings from laying off refuse collectors. The change is expected to eliminate about 70 jobs from the solid waste division.
Automated collection will begin in December, when the city plans to readjust its collection routes. The city of Toledo will fully automate its trash collection by the end of March - almost two years after Mayor Carty Finkbeiner first said officials would review using automated trucks.
Residents who have large items for pickup must call the city at 419-936-2515 at least one day in advance of collection day.