Cincinnati Council will likely vote next week on an ordinance making major changes to how the city picks up your trash. Officials have been studying the issue for a couple years.
Budget Director Lea Erikson is the co-chair of a task force recommending the changes. She said the plan has several goals.
“To modernize the language, improve safety, create clear and consistent rules, enable new technology, limit excessive trash, resume yard waste collection and decrease cost,” Erikson said.
Right now the city's policy is to pick-up everything a resident places at the curb. But Erikson said that will change next year.
“Starting in October, when this is fully implemented, we will only pick-up garbage if it’s in the bin,” Erikson said. “If there’s something that’s bulky, we will have a separate bulky item route where you would schedule pick-up for bulky items. You have a choice of a 32, 64 or 96 gallon cart and the garbage has to fit in the 96 gallon cart or we won’t pick it up.”
Those carts will cost about $5 million and the city will be issuing bonds to pay for them. They'll be distributed in 5 phases, which will be completed in October 2013.
Cincinnati will also resume yard waste collection in April on a bi-weekly basis. Leaves and grass clipping won't be allowed to be mixed with regular trash as is the case now.
The city will only provide trash collection to one to four unit dwellings in Cincinnati. Mixed use and commercial buildings will have to contract with another provider for garbage pick-up
The city is promising an aggressive advertising campaign to make sure residents know about the changes and when they will take effect.
