During Monday night’s Falls Supervisors meeting residents came out to voice concerns over Waste Management’s new trash collection system as the trash collection company rolled out the first phase of a two-pronged trash pickup change in Falls Township this week.
About a half dozen residents, along with Falls Supervisors Chairman Jeff Dence, voiced concerns over the quick change to trash collections, which took effect for some households on Monday. Waste Management implemented changes to trash pickup days without formally notifying the township and requesting updates to the interactive trash collection map on the website without adequate time to prepare, which caused confusion.
The trash collection company mailed postcards by direct mail notifying residents that, in preparation for a June 28 rollout of automated trash collection, their collection dates may be changing. Not all residents’ collection dates were impacted, Waste Management representatives told residents and the Falls Township Board of Supervisors during Monday night’s meeting.
Dence said he and the township have been fielding emails and calls from residents.
“This is not something that Falls Township asked for or wanted,” Dence said. “This isn’t something that we agreed to do.”
Waste Management Spokeswoman Patty Barthel said residents will still have twice-per-week trash pickup. She said the change in collection days was aimed at “balancing out our workforce.”
Many of the residents who spoke out against the trash collection changes – and the tentative May 28 delivery of the 96-gallon trash receptacles – lived in the Oxford Crossing development. Several voiced concerns about adequate space for significantly larger trashcans and the inability of senior citizens and others with mobility issues to be able to move them to their curb.
Barthel and other Waste Management representatives plan to meet with residents and resolve the issue to the satisfaction of the 200 households in the development, including delivering smaller trash receptacles or not using the receptacles at all.
“We have no desire to make this an inconvenience for the residents,” Barthel said.
Bobby Jones of Waste Management said he would like to meet with residents “to go see” everything that they shared during the meeting about the development’s constraints.
Waste Management handed out frequently asked questions to residents in attendance Monday. The information will also be posted on Falls Township’s website. Residents who are unsure of their current collection dates can view an interactive map on the Falls Township website at https://www.fallstwp.com/information/trash-collection/ to see their collection days.
In addition, Waste Management officials said residents can call 1-800-869-5566 and provide their address to the customer service representative to request a smaller trash receptacle or a second can. Residents were previously prompted to provide an account number when calling. However, Barthel said that has been changed and a home address is the only information needed when calling to report missed trash or recycling pickup, schedule a bulk pickup or request trash receptacles. Those service requests can also be made at www.wm.com, Barthel said.
Once new trash receptacles are delivered, tentatively on May 28, Barthel said Waste Management can haul away any trash cans that residents wish to discard provided that they are “marked appropriately.” Waste Management wanted residents to have the new cans a month before they are put into use for the automated trash collection so residents have time to look at them and figure out how to maneuver them, Barthel said.
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