Nearly 7,000 property owners in select Syracuse neighborhoods are into the third week of wheeling their new trash carts to the curb for pickup. It's part of phase one of the semi-automated collection system that began earlier this month. So, how's it going?
WAER News caught up with a crew making its rounds on Genesee Parkway on the city’s far east side. A sanitation worker rolls the cart to an arm at the back of the truck, which then tips the bin to empty the contents. The crew moves much the same it always has, quickly and methodically from house to house, except workers aren't lifting the heavy bins.
So far, says Syracuse's Chief Operations Officer Corey Driscoll Dunham, most residents are following the rules.
“This is a major change for them. And we've been seeing much greater levels of compliance than we anticipated," Driscoll Dunham said. "That's hopefully in part due to some of the communication, but also the responsiveness of the residents who looked at the materials that were dropped off with the cart.”
However, she says, some might continue old habits.
“They're filling the cart, but maybe also using their old cans for additional bags that can't fit into the cart, or they're still putting loose trash in the cart," Driscoll Dunham said. "Whereas now everything really needs to be bagged.”
Driscoll Dunham says they started with warning stickers for those who didn’t follow setout requirements, but still picked up the trash. This week, the city is issuing citations, and crews will not empty those carts.
Driscoll Dunham says there are few issues with routes, crews and equipment.
“We thought it might take a lot longer, but we're not really finding that to be the case," Driscoll Dunham said. "We've trained the employees, and they've been receptive on how to use the equipment, so we haven't really had any equipment issues, either. Everything really has been working as well as we could have expected.”
Driscoll Dunham says they’re aiming to further streamline the process when they roll out the new collection system to the rest of the city this fall.
