American Refuse rolls out new service in Wasco

Representatives from American Refuse attended the City Council meeting Tuesday night and gave a presentation on the recycling bag and information they are leaving residents, along with their new blue recycle cart. This is all in preparation for the introduction of the new recycling program beginning next week.

"There is a brochure that lists what goes in every cart and a welcome letter," recycling coordinator Maria Medina said.

The brochure includes information about what is expected, what is contamination, what can be recycled and helpful hints.

The brochure lists what items can go into the blue cart, including milk jugs and juice bottles, water bottles, plastic litter bottles (soda), aluminum cans (soft drinks), empty tin cans (fruit/veggies), glass bottles and jars, cardboard, junk mail, newspaper, phone books, paper bags, magazines and paper.

Items that can go into the green organics recycling cart include food waste, grass clippings, yard clippings, coffee grounds, beans, nuts, eggshells, bread, fruit, vegetables, unfinished wood and broken pallets.

For the black trash cart, items that can be disposed of include polystyrene, contaminated plastics, general household trash, diapers, plastic bags, plastic wrapped boxes, dog and cat food bags, Christmas lights, plastic swimming pools, garden hoses, clothes, shoes, feed bag, tarps, toys, bikes and mini blinds.

Household hazardous waste must go to an HHW facility. These items are not allowed in any recycling, organics or trash receptacles. These items are hazardous to the environment and can cause fires in your receptacle, trash truck or the facility.

Hazardous waste includes batteries, paint, fluorescent bulbs, aerosol cans, auto fluid, pool chemicals, sharps, cleaning products, pesticides and herbicides.

It is advised not to overfill the cans/bins, and lids must be closed because debris can spread from wind and stray animals. It can also spill on American Refuse drivers.

The welcome letter from American Refuse that will come with the brochure says that they are pleased to be the city's new service provider. Pick-up for blue recycling carts will be every Friday, with service commencing on the 17th of this month.

Along with the brochure and welcome letter, there will be an "in-home recycling bag," which is a reusable bag that is advised to be kept in your home for refuse.

The bag is provided to be a way for one to store recyclable items in your home. It may also be used as an easy way to transport items to your blue cart recycle container.

There is a diagram attached to the bag that lists acceptable recyclables.

Lynnda Martin, marketing director, encourages people to use the new mobile app. Look for "American Refuse" in your App store or Google Play. Download the app and then add preferences. You can set up reminders to set your cart(s) the night before. You can also use the waste wizard on the app to look up items to ensure they are placed in the right cart.

City manager Scott Hurlbert said, "I am a fan of the app. The one feature I like is the waste wizard, which tells you what goes in each bin. I think it works really well. It's easy to lose track of pick-up dates, but the app helps with this."

"We spent a significant amount of time working with AR with all the different forms of media to inform. A fair amount of work has gone into that area."

Martin suggests that residents visit americanrefuse.co/index.php/wasco for other helpful information.

You can also find the frequently asked questions page specific to Wasco.