Birmingham Public Works explains how new uniform trash bin rollout will work

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - Public Works crews are now out, specifically in the East side of Birmingham, delivering thousands of new uniform trash bins to your homes.

We first told you earlier this year, the city ordered 100,000 bins for all residents to get a new one and 25,000 are in the city now.

These are 96-gallon bins and come with tracking devices in them, so public works can see where they are and if they’ve been dumped. The goal is to have one at every home, but the rollout is just getting started.

Director of Public Works Josh Yates said they are putting 5,000 cans on the east side of town this week. Then, they will move to the south side, then west, then parts of the north side, with each getting 5,000 cans.

Yates said not each street in each area will get a can right now, only partial neighborhoods, so don’t be surprised if your neighbor got one and you didn’t.

“Our routes that we run daily do not cover whole neighborhoods,” Yates said. “So, it may be pieces of the neighborhood. Without throwing our system out, it may be parts of Hollow Springs, parts of Roebuck, parts of Spring Lake that receive the carts.”

He said they are picking streets that already have trash pickup routes in the front because that will make it easier for the three new automated trucks to learn how to operate this new system.

He said the new trash pickup plan won’t start until next month for those with new cans, but it should improve liter and stop public works from being on your street everyday.

“There is really no time of the week that we don’t have garbage on our streets right now,” Yates said. “This will put our household garbage pick up on once a week, so you’ll see trucks coming in and garbage out only once a week. It will be contained, so you’ll see a lot of improvement in terms of cleanliness with these. We have got a way now to contain our garbage.”

Nothing changes about your trash pick up schedule yet. Yates said hopefully by November 1, the city will send out three new automated trucks to pick up the 20,000 new cans throughout the city. He said the city will keep 5,000 of the cans for replacements. The original cans will stay on their same schedule, twice a week pick up.

“The new automated side loader will take two of our normal routes per district off of twice a week to once a week,” Yates said.

He said flyers are going out with each cart that include specific instructions for each house. Yates said letters will be in the mail that include your new service dates.

“This is going to be one of the best items we have to really clean up our city,” he said.

Click here for more details on the new pick-up schedule.

If you aren’t getting your new bin in this round of distribution, you may not get one until the new year. Yates said the next set is scheduled for January, along with four new trucks to specifically pick up these cans.

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