Cary begins delivery of rollout carts tuesday

Curbside Garbage Collection to Occur Over Eight Weeks

CARY , NC – As part of the Town of Cary ’s transition from backyard garbage collection to curbside collection, the Town will begin delivering new rollout carts Tuesday, October 18. It will take about eight weeks to deliver one cart to each of the nearly 33,000 solid waste customers in Cary .  Customers will be able to use the Town’s Web site to track the delivery process and search by street address for specific delivery dates by going to the Maps Online section of www.townofcary.org.

Citizens will receive a hanger on their current garbage container a week before their new cart is to be delivered.  The first round of hangers was delivered earlier this week. 

“Now that the new carts are arriving, we are one step closer to implementing one of the safest, most efficient, equitable and economical services for our citizens and employees,” said Public Works Director Mike Bajorek.  “The carts’ easy rolling design and 95-gallon capacity will make getting rid of household trash more convenient than ever.”

Even so, customers whose doctors feel that they are physically unable to bring the new cart to and from the curb may ask the Town to help them with curbside collection by completing a Curbside Assistance Request Form, which is available on the Web or by calling Public Works and Utilities.

Once customers receive their new cart, all of their waste—garbage, recycling, and yard waste--will be collected at the curb on the same day – their current solid waste collection day.  Yard waste will no longer be collected town-wide on Mondays. 

All garbage must fit inside the new Town-issued cart or be subject to an additional $10 special collection fee, starting in March 2006.  Citizens should still continue to place all waste at the curb – not in the street, on the sidewalk or on the meter box – by 7 a.m. on their collection day.  Carts should face out away from light poles, mailboxes or fire hydrants.  Also, carts should be removed from the curb as soon as possible following collection but no later than 6 a.m. the next day.

Customers are encouraged to repurpose their old garbage cans by using them to collect yard waste or for composting.  However, if citizens want to discard their old cans, they can place them at the curb with a note attached requesting it be removed, and the Town will take it away.  As another option, citizens can take their old cans to the Citizens Convenience Center on North Dixon Avenue .

The Town has put together a number of educational materials designed to help customers successfully transition from backyard to curbside collection.  In addition to brochures detailing the new service that will be delivered with each new cart, the Town has produced a short video and even a quiz—both available on the Curbside Collection Web section—to make sure everyone is clear on how to participate in the new program.  The video will also run regularly on the Town’s government access channel, Cary TV 11.

Existing town home and condominium customers with three or more units to the building will continue to be served by backyard collection since middle units may not be able to get their waste around the outer units and to the curb.  Customers in these buildings will not receive a solid waste cart from the Town.  However, all of these customers’ waste—recycling, yard, and garbage—will be collected on their current solid waste collection day.

The decision to go to curbside came as part of the Cary Town Council’s adoption of the FY 2006 Budget based on evidence that changing from backyard collection to fully automated curbside collection now will help hold necessary cost increases to their lowest levels, saving customers millions of dollars in the coming years.  In addition, a 2004 survey showed that a majority Cary citizens support switching to curbside.

For more, see call (919) 469-4090 or click on the Curbside Collection icon at www.townofcary.org.

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