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Community Corner

New Trash Collector to Begin Pickup in Plum

The borough's new sanitation company, Allied Waste Services, begins services May 31. The new services bring changes to pick up schedule, recycling.

It’s a clean sweep for Plum Borough as new trash collector Allied Waste Services prepares to begin its services May 31.

The Scottdale company will bring changes to the borough’s waste and recycling collection routines. Among those changes are a five-day collection schedule, single-stream recycling collection, and weekly, instead of biweekly, recycling pickup.

The last day that current sanitation service provider Waste Management will pick up is May 24. Allied Waste will begin services the following week, but with a catch—due to the Memorial Day holiday, all collection days for that first week will be moved back by one day, starting May 31.

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“The first week, right out of the gate, everything is delayed a day,” Councilman Leonard Szarmach said.

Szarmach, who is chairman of the public works committee, said it has been “awhile” since the borough had a five-day collection schedule. He recalled that when the Plum performed its own trash collection, the borough used to have the five-day sweeps.

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Szarmach said the response from residents has been positive. One aspect of the new service that he likes is how Allied Waste will pick up trash and recycling on the same day—and every week. Waste Management picked up recycling every two weeks.

“It’s nice to know that (when) trash day's here, we’ll put everything out,” he said.

Another aspect he likes involves a change the new company won’t be bringing to the borough—a change in rates. Rates for collection will remain at about $16 a month for residents and a discounted rate of $13.67 for senior citizens.

“It‘s a win for everybody,” he said. “In this day and age, that’s a big plus.”

Allied Waste was awarded the contract in April. The company’s bid was $1.2 million below that of the next lowest bidder, according to Szarmach. He said the borough received three bids for the job. The contract runs from June 2011 to May 2015 with an option to extend the agreement for one year.

A packet with a schedule of collection days, as well as other information, was recently sent to residents by Allied Waste. Szarmach said the company had agreed to provide information to the residents.

"I'm really pleased with the information they sent out," he said. "It's very informative and very professional.

The borough’s website, www.plumboro.com, also includes details on the upcoming changes.

The changes in service that will begin with Allied Waste include:

  • Recycling collection every week, instead of the biweekly service Waste Management provided. Recycling will now be collected on the same day that trash is collected.
  • Single-stream recycling—which means that a single container will be used to collect all recyclable materials. Allied Waste will also take more kinds of recyclables, Szarmach said.
  • Yard waste collection that will be held the third Saturday of August, September, and October 2011 and April, May, and June 2012.
  • Recycling carts in three different sizes will be provided to residents. Residents can order 96, 64, and 35-gallon carts depending on their needs. The new carts aren't available yet, but should be by August, Szarmach said. For now, residents can use their current recycling bins. According to Waste Management's flyer on recycling services, samples bins are available for residents to see at the borough building.
  • Bulk item pickup will be limited to one per week, but for $10 per item, additional bulk items each week will be picked up by the company.
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