Photo courtesy of city of Phoenix
The city of Phoenix is changing the way bulk trash is collected. At city council’s Transportation, Infrastructure, and Planning (TIP) Subcommittee meeting last month, the Appointment-Based Bulk Trash system was presented. The new program will offer residents the ability to schedule their own bulk trash collection, rather than waiting for quarterly bulk trash pickup during the dates assigned to their area. Appointment-based bulk trash collection begins on September 30.
Under the current bulk trash program, Public Works lays out a collection schedule for the entire year for 13 different regions across the city, giving each region four designated collection periods annually. The appointment-based system will be replacing quarterly collection beginning on September 30. All bulk trash collection on or after that date must be scheduled online.
Customers will have the freedom to schedule bulk trash pickup based on when they need it, rather than according to a citywide calendar. Residents will schedule a pickup date online. The portal will offer available collection dates based on the customer’s address. Upon selecting a date, customers will get an email confirmation and can then begin to place their large items at the edge of their property no more than seven days ahead of their pickup appointment. Customers will be allowed up to 10 cubic yards of trash per collection. The new program will do away with bulk trash collection in alleys.
Customers are still allowed up to four bulk trash collections each year. General guidelines on bulk trash placement and permitted/prohibited items will remain the same.
The scheduling model will also allow residents flexibility and convenience according to their own needs. For example, a customer could avoid placing bulk items out during the heat of summer months and schedule appointments only in the winter. Or someone who is slowly cleaning out their garage could schedule all four collections in the same month if they wanted to.
Because customers may begin putting items on the edge of their property no earlier than seven days before their selected collection day, trash will be left out for a significantly shorter amount of time.
The new model will not allow customers to schedule collection on dates surrounding Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day each year. This will help eliminate unsightly trash piles during times when visitors and trick-or-treaters are out and about. Because Public Works will be able to build collection routes according to scheduled appointments, items won’t be sitting outside as long, staff workloads will be more equitable, and equipment operators will spend less time outside during the hottest parts of the day.
For more information, visit phoenix.gov/publicworks/bulktrash.
