On Tuesday, February 1, Mayor Lester Miller announced a change that will improve the collection of old garbage carts. Macon-Bibb County has hired a third-party company to pick up all old, green trash carts.
The old trash and recycling carts belong to Advanced Disposal Services (ADS)/Waste Management. They were supposed pick up all the old carts, but after two months since beginning picking them up, there are still thousands sitting on the curb. In an effort to clean up our neighborhoods and lessen the burden for residents, we formed a way that will speed up old cart collection.
“While it is the former solid waste service company’s responsibility to get them, these are our streets, our neighborhoods, and our community,” said Mayor Miller. “It’s up to us to take ownership in their cleanliness, and I and the Commission believe enough time has been provided to get them all.”
The third-party company will work six days a week to assist with the collection of green carts. Our Solid Waste, Public Works, and Parks and Beautification departments will also work overtime to assist in the collection. Since there are still more than 40,000 old carts uncollected, we estimate that our collection should take 2-3 weeks. No additional funding will come from Macon-Bibb County.
“I want to thank people for their patience and understanding as we work to improve the services,” said Mayor Miller. “This has been a huge undertaking and a major change.”
We ask that all residents leave their old and empty green carts out on the curb until a crew comes by to pick up the carts. The first pass will be to only collect green carts, since many may still be waiting on a new Ryland recycling cart. Ryland will empty the old recycling carts until they finish delivering the new ones.
If you still do not have a new red or blue cart, you can put in a request at www.maconbibb.us/seeclickfix.
If residents would like to immediately get rid of their old carts, they can take them to our temporary Convenience Center at 920 11th Street.