Two-Year Mark: Looking Back-and Ahead- at Trash Collection and Recycling

SEATTLE (Waste Advantage): Change doesn’t always go over well in Butte, Montana. That’s why local officials spent months and months pitching major changes to the way trash is collected here as well as a voluntary recycling program before setting the new programs in motion two years ago.

Among the officials’ selling points for the new garbage system were cleaner alleys and a cleaner city, since large, standard-sized trash bins with hinged lids would usually keep animals and the wind at bay.

Matt Vincent, the county’s chief executive at the time, described the decades-old system in place in 2015 like this:

“When you drive down those alleys and you see all those rickety-rackety garbage cans with seven or eight cans and none of them with lids, I mean, it’s an all-you-can-eat buffet if you’re a stray dog and the wind blows the debris around,” he said.

Recycling would divert tons of material from the county’s landfill and would be completely voluntary, supporters said. Those who didn’t want to take part didn’t have to take part.

There was pushback, for sure, and plenty of predicted problems.

Those big trash bins would be hard to wheel around in the snow and impossible for older folks to maneuver, critics said. People could actually be injured, opening up the county to lawsuits.

When empty or only partially full, the bins are light and top heavy and would be blown around with their lids opened, littering neighborhoods, some suggested.

The new garbage trucks, which have mechanical arms that grab the bins from the side and dump their contents into the back, wouldn’t have enough room to maneuver in alleys.

Opponents said recycling, including curbside pickup, wouldn’t catch on and wouldn’t last.

It’s been two years this November since the new trash system and recycling were rolled out, and there have been some hitches and ongoing challenges.

But the pros outweigh the cons, officials say, and with a little help from residents, the challenges can be overcome.

Courtesy: https://wasteadvantagemag.com