Fairfield residents receive trash carts

FAIRFIELD – Fairfield residents should have received their new trash cart from Waste Management, which sought to provide them by July 1 when its new five-year contract with the city began.

In an effort to increase efficiency and attract employees, Waste Management informed the Fairfield City Council that it was switching to a new method of trash collection whereby a mechanical arm on its garbage truck would pick up a trash bin, instead of having an employee get out of the truck to pick up trash bags by hand. To accomplish this, all Fairfield residents who have their own water meter would receive a trash cart specifically designed to be lifted by Waste Management’s trucks. The trash carts have a green lid, in contrast to Waste Management’s recycling bins, which have a yellow lid.

Fairfield residents were given the option of a 96-gallon or 65-gallon cart, with the 96-gallon being the default if they made no selection. Fairfield City Administrator Doug Reinert said a few residents received the wrong size cart or were skipped entirely, including himself.

“I was a good test subject,” he said. “There were a few logistical errors, but that’s to be expected when you have a transition like this, and you’ve got a duplex with separate apartments or you miss an address. We try to rectify those as fast as we can.”

Reinert said residents who did not receive a trash cart or who received the wrong size can call city hall at 641-472-6193.

Fairfield residents will see that their trash and recycling charges are now a single line item on their utility bill, which will be $22.27 per month for the first year of the contract and increasing a little each subsequent year: $22.93 in year two, $23.62 in year three, $24.33 in year four, and $25.00 in year five.

WHAT ABOUT MY OLD BIN?

Waste Management’s provision of a trash cart means Fairfield residents are left wondering what to do with their old trash bins. Residents can place their old bins inside their new trash cart to be hauled away on their normal trash pick-up day. However, Fairfield’s Resilient Action Committee (RAC) wants the public to know they don’t have to throw their old bins away and instead can repurpose or recycle them.

RAC will host a repurposing workshop from 2-4 p.m. this Saturday, July 12 at the Deep Green Machine Makers’ Space, a building north of The Collective (Breadtopia). Volunteers will demonstrate how to convert the old bins into things such as a wheelbarrow, chicken coop or planter. The workshop is free, but pre-registration is required by Friday, July 11 by visiting https://tinyurl.com/yx9muhv9. Tools, expertise, and some materials will be provided.

Maharishi International University will also collect old bins at its Repurposing Yard north of Fairfield just off Highway 1. The yard will take the bins every Saturday in July from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and the bins will be sent to Iowa Waste Exchange for recycling or repurposing. Old bins can also be swapped with better ones at this location, whose address is 1941 Highway 1. From Fairfield, go north on Highway 1, take the first right after the Loop Trail Pedestrian Bridge. The first structure, a barn, on the left is the site, across from Ferrel Gas. There will be a large container there for collecting the bins.

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Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com

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