Republic Talks Quarterly Bulk Collection and Bi-Weekly Recycling at Neighborhood Chat

San Angelo Republic Services discussed specifics on a proposal for trash and recycling pickup at Councilwoman Elizabeth Grindstaff’s Neighborhood Chat on Tuesday, March 8.

This proposal would address the once-a-quarter bulk collection, which is currently inconvenient when residents have to contact Republic Services to find out the specific date for collection.

“The proposed change would be to increase bulk collection to every month”, said David Harwell, operations manager for Republic Services in San Angelo, at the meeting. He noted that this would allow one day a month to be set aside for bulk-item pickups, and, in exchange, Republic Services would set aside every other week for recycling.

However, the crowd at the Neighborhood Chat met the proposal with some reluctance. One member declared it takes a whole month to fill up a recycling bin. Also, there is some difference in capacity between an individual who lives alone and someone who lives with a family of six, but these are realistic concerns.   

Harwell said, to add this service, they would need to keep their operating costs as low as possible. This is the reason for reducing the recycle collections.

He added bulk collection has remained an option since the monitoring of the new operations started in July because recycling bins are half full when collected every second or third week.

"We see that capacity there as far as putting our resources, as far as our trucks and our people, where it’s most needed,” Harwell said. “And we feel like that’s bulk collection.”

Most concerns since operations started is where residents put tree limbs or trash that won’t fit into a container. Republic Services' response is putting an emphasis on bulk collection and spreading recycling collection to every other week.

Grindstaff also asked Republic to address requests for additional recycling containers if a household reaches capacity too quickly.

 “We are not going to penalize you by reducing your recycling capacity,” Harwell said, “If you want additional recycling, you can get a second recycling container, no charge.”

This means that collection would still be every other week, but both containers can be collected on that day.

Grindstaff then further addressed the concern the public has for the aesthetics of their residential areas with trash containers being out on the streets. Though this could be a whole other discussion entirely, having residents know when the date is for bulk pickup can reduce the buildup on the streets, Grindstaff said.

The new bulk collection would allow residents to know which day of the month bulk collection would fall on—for example, the second Tuesday of every month. This reduces the confusion of residents having to contact Republic Services to figure out this information, Harwell said.

A 20-day schedule and pickup routes have been planned out for this project despite it only being in the negotiation phase with the City Council. There are currently four recycle routes in San Angelo, meaning no new driver learning would be needed for those routes, Harwell said.

For citizens interested in having a say on this proposal, Republic Services has an online survey on its website.

“We think more people are in favor of making the change than the current system because you do get the benefit of added bulk collection,” Harwell said.