Effective September 1st, the new "out-of-cart" collection requirements will go into effect.
Richard’s Disposal will be the service provider that will be responsible for collecting all those items that do not fit in your garbage cart. This will include
bulky trash, namely items too bulky or heavy to fit in the garbage cart such as furniture, large household items, remodeling debris, mattresses, water heaters, carpet, fencing, lumber,
yard and woody waste such as brush piles, tree limbs, shrub prunings, and bagged leaves and grass.
In addition to the specific types of waste, there are new size/weight/count policies; including:
- Maximum of 10 out-of-cart items per collection day, either individual items or bundles (for lawn debris)
- Brush and lawn debris must be bundled or bagged.
- Maximum weight of 40 pounds per item (this is an OSHA standard)
- Brush and bundles must be no more than 5 feet in length (in order to fit in the rear loading garbage truck)
- Tree limbs must be no more than 6 inches in diameter and 5 feet in length.
So, the elephant in the room - namely
woody waste. Richards will
not use a knuckleboom-type truck to collect piles of woody waste debris during the scheduled weekly collection day (as is the current service with Republic). Therefore, homeowners will have to either make arrangements to get the debris removed from their property through a private service or arrangements with Richards to remove the debris for a fee (which has not yet been shared).
If you have a tree trimming company remove limbs, it is their responsibility to dispose of that material (make sure that is in the contract).
In addition to the change in size, count and weight limits policy, there will also be changes made to the collection day schedules for tens of thousands of homeowners. Those schedule changes have not been published by the City Parish or service providers.
Let’s face it, Republic is behind in collection of debris around the city and the Mayor has made arrangements with Republic to continue for an additional month and a half (through mid-October) during the transition period to help get caught up with out-of-cart waste disposal.
So, what could the homeowner do in preparation for the September 1st target date?
If the limit of items placed at the curb on your trash pickup date exceeds 10 items, you will either need to spread the items out over multiple weeks, or make friends with your neighbor. You’ll need to do a little extra work when it comes to pruning those crepe myrtles – namely tying up those bundles of limbs and make sure they don’t exceed the 5ft length. You might also want to check around your house right now and see if there are things you might want to discard and get that done before September 1st.
Ed Lagucki
President, Federation of Greater Baton Rouge Civic Associations