City announces trash enhancements

Friday, October 1, 2010

GREENCASTLE -- In addition to changes made following the city of Greencastle's recent agreements with Republic Services, Inc. to use curbside trash toters provided by Republic, some new features are available.

Residents may use their trash toter for disposal of yard waste. Small branches and limbs, as well as small amounts of leaves and grass clippings, may be put directly into the trash toter, but not within a plastic bag.

Recycling bins are not to be used for yard waste.

Residents should continue to take large tree limbs and stumps to the West Central Solid Waste District's yard waste site at 2362 South CR 250W.

The city will be vacuuming leaves curbside in the month of November for Greencastle residents to avoid the use and disposal of plastic bags.

As a second feature with the use of trash toters, residents are not required to use plastic bags inside the toter for trash and garbage. Cutting back on the use of trash can liners or bags will greatly help reduce the amount of plastic put in our landfills.

The life of a biodegradable plastic bag can be less than three months, while it has been estimated that a regular plastic bag can take up to 1,000 years to decompose. In addition, the contents of such a bag are deprived of oxygen and microorganisms and do not decompose naturally.

Several Greencastle residents have expressed concern about the difficulty of getting their trash and recycling toters to the curb this winter during times of snow and ice. For anyone who prefers to put out bags during such weather, the contract with Republic allows for the use of up to three 30-gallon plastic trash bags. However, anyone wishing to do so is asked to contact the local business office at 653-3902.

Residents are also asked to contact the business office if they need assistance in getting trash or recycling removed.

With the use of the new recycling toters and the addition of items that can be recycled, Republic announced an additional 33,000 pounds of material has been sent to the curbs in Greencastle for recycling in just the four months since the changes.

Mayor Sue Murray would like to thank residents for adjusting to the new system and especially for recycling and reducing the amount of trash put into our landfills.

"Let's continue to work together to make Greencastle greener," Murray said.

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: