TRASHING SMALLER CARTS

Aug 09, 2023

Manteca is about to undergo the biggest change in solid waste service since switching from the old 30-gallon metal garbage cans and recycling tubs to carts almost 30 years ago.

The change includes:

*Going to weekly instead of every other week collecting blue (recycling) and green (yard waste/food waste) carts.

*Switching all households to 96-gallon carts for garbage and recyclables which means many residents will see their cart capacities double or triple.

*Based on the weekly collection, it also means existing 96 gallon households will be able to get rid of twice as much recyclables and yard waste.

It is part of a seismic shift in service that will start going into place in mid-November. It has been overshadowed by the buzz about the city’s failure to keep on top of garbage costs by not increasing rates for more than 12 years to cover ongoing expenses, labor, and equipment replacement.

On Tuesday, the City Council during their 6 p.m. meeting at the Civic Center, 1001 W. Center St., will conduct a Proposition 218 required protest hearing.

If there are written protests received by 50 percent plus one of the city’s roughly 24,000 residential and commercial ratepayers, the council can’t put rate hikes in place.

Given that would require 13,000 or so written protests based on the parameters of Proposition 218, it is highly unlikely to happen.

The rate hikes are scheduled to go into effect in mid-November.

The $34.33 charge for the universal 96-gallon cart service that everyone will be switched to will go from the current $34.33 a month to $50.92 on Nov. 16, 2023 through Dec. 31. 2024.

Then, during the next three years:

*On Jan. 1, 2025, the rate will go up $3.76 to $54.68.

*On Jan. 1, 2026, the rate will go up $4.04 to $58.72.

*On Jan. 1, 2027, the rate will go up $4.35 to $63.07.

There are lower rates for households that qualify as low-income seniors.

The switch to universal 96-gallon service will:

*Eliminate issues with truck “arms” being able to effectively grab the 64 and 32 gallon carts.

*Eliminate a high replacement rate for the smallest containers that can run close to $150 apiece that are now damaged to the point they have to be replaced hundreds of times each year.

*Avoid having to buy trucks with arms designed for medium and smaller carts that would create a much larger blackhole in department expenses.

*Avoid cardboard from getting jammed in the 32-gallon and 64-gallon blue recycling carts that prevents the contents from dumping when they are tipped.

*Likely significantly reduce cross-contamination when people with smaller garbage carts place what they can’t fit into the brown carts into the blue for recycling and in the green for yard waste effectively contaminating them and making it impossible to recycle or compost waste that then has to be landfilled.

Standardization of the 96-gallon trash cart offers greater operational flexibility.

For instance, 32-gallon carts are the smallest cart in dimension so they remain loose inside the trucks’ grappling mechanism when operators service them. Due to this deficiency, the 32-gallon size carts often fall into the hopper and need to be repaired or replaced due to being damaged.

Operationally, the remedy is to utilize two different sizes of grappling arms on the Solid Waste Fleet.

But this would create an operational inefficiency because two trucks with different sized grappling arms will have to be utilized on each route. Additionally, both the 32 and 64-gallon carts have trouble standing upright on the curbside after they are serviced, due to the narrowness of their bases.

The 96-gallon cart has a wider base and when set down after being dumped, it is more stable and does not fall over as easily in windy conditions. Operationally, 64-gallon recycling carts are tough to service because cardboard may become wedged in the cart or get stuck.

Standardization of the 96-gallon trash cart offers greater operational flexibility.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email [email protected]