CITY OF DURHAM: Changes Solid Waste Collection Routes for Some Households Beginning October 4

By Press release submission

Sep 11, 2021

City of Durham issued the following announcement on Sep 11.

Route Changes Needed to Better Balance Number of Households Collected Daily; Impacted Households Mailed Postcards Last Week

If you’re noticing that your garbage, recycling, or yard waste carts are not collected as scheduled, an upcoming route collection day and/or week change for some Durham households could soon bring more reliable curbside service.

Beginning Monday, October 4, approximately 20,000 households will have a new curbside collection day for garbage, recycling, and yard waste or a new curbside collection week for recycling. According to the City of Durham Solid Waste Management Department, these route changes for some of their customers are necessary since routes have become imbalanced with too many households clustered on certain collection days. This often results in weekly missed collections – particularly for current Monday customers – leading crews to finish collections the following day, which also then impacts the collection days for the remainder of the week. Not only does this route imbalance result in less consistent service, it also overworks equipment and crews.

“Providing great customer service matters to us. Because we sometimes haven’t collected carts as we promised, we’re changing some of our routes to better balance the number of households that we collect each day,” said Director Donald Long with the City’s Solid Waste Management Department. “We expect this change to make a big difference and lead to fewer missed curbside collections, and we appreciate everyone’s patience as the collection changes go into effect next month.”

Last week, the 20,000 impacted households were mailed a postcard, in English and Spanish, detailing the changes for their specific property address beginning on October 4. Residents can also now check the department’s webpage using the “Find Your Collection Day” calendar function to see if their address will have collection changes beginning next month, or use the department’s free Durham Rollout app for Apple and Android. In addition to searching for collection day changes, the department’s webpage and free app allow users to search for information about items accepted for curbside collections as well as sign up for collection day and/or missed collection alerts and reminders for holiday service changes. If residents still have questions after receiving the postcard or visiting the department’s webpage, they are encouraged to contact Durham One Call at (919) 560-1200 for more assistance.

Original source can be found here.