City of Yakima issued the following announcement on Sept. 29.
Since February, the City of Yakima Solid Waste Division has seen an 11 percent increase in the tonnage generated by its residential customers. To hold all this extra tonnage, customers have been requesting additional 96-gallon carts.
“Normally, ordering additional carts does not stretch our resources. However, the current demand is causing a shortage,” said Solid Waste Division Manager Loretta Zammarchi.
The City of Yakima typically orders two loads of 96-gallon carts per year, 600 for refuse and 600 for yard waste. That number usually lasts an entire year, with carts to spare. This year, though, the City is running low on those carts.
“We have placed a third order of carts and an additional order of dumpsters,” Zammarchi said. “However, due to pandemic-related factory slowdowns on the production side, 96-gallon carts may not be available until December or January.”
The Refuse Division is offering customers an alternative during the delay.
“We can provide three 32-gallon carts for the same price as one 96-gallon cart, in the meantime,” said Zammarchi. “We ask that our customers be understanding as we await our new shipment of carts.”
The City is unable to exchange dirty carts at this time. It advises customers to clean their carts with warm, soapy water after collection if they have an issue with smell or build-up in the cart. Additional cleaning tips can be found at https://www.yakimawa.gov/services/refuse/files/2013/06/Cleaning-Tips1.pdf
The Refuse Division appreciates and continues to ask the community’s help in keeping refuse workers and the public safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. It requests the following:
- Continue to bag all trash
- Make sure all bags are completely closed and tied
- Have carts out by 6:00 am on the day of scheduled garbage collection.
- The Refuse Division is not currently providing special haul service. Those with large items can utilize the Division’s temporary metal bin service for an additional fee.
- Items left at the curb will not be picked up without prior arrangements made with the Refuse Division. All garbage must fit inside the cart.
- During the COVID-19 pandemic, illegal dumping continues to be a health and safety concern. Please report any illegal dumping through the City of Yakima Yak Back program at https://www.yakimawa.gov/yak-back/
Original source can be found here.
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