5 Important Facts about the New Curbside System

Week one of the new curbside collection system, which sees the city collect all trash and recyclables on a single day, requires everyone to use wheeled carts for trash and recycleables, and eliminates the need to sort recycling. 

Despite weeks of informational efforts by the city, questions linger as the program gets under way. Here are a few key facts to keep in mind. 

1. Curbside collection is always on Friday. Trash is collected every week and recycelables every other week and always on the same day: Friday. Some holidays will push collection back. A calendar for the rest of the year is available here. 

2. The big cart is for recycling. The 96-gallon wheeled cart, marked for recycling, shuold be used for all recyclable materials --paper, plastic, cardboard, metal, glass--there s no need to sort. If there's trash in the recycling bin, it won't be picked up. 

3. The more you recycle, the the more city saves. Every 5 percent ncrease in the recycling rate reduces the city's solid waste disposal costs by $75,000 per year.

4. You have to drop off the big stuff. If it doesn't fit in the smaller cart, for trash, then you have to bring the items to the resident drop-off facility located at 856 Boston Post Road East. Or you can hire a private firm, including the city's contractor, Allied Waste, to haul it away.  Allied Waste can be reached at 1-800-442-9006.

5. Yard Waste has to wait. Grass clippings, leaves and brush can't go in the trash container. Instead, the city has set aside eight weeks for collection of yard waste, four in the fall and four more next spring. During those weeks, yard waste will be collected in trash cans or biodegradable bags.