County officials are reminding residents to bag any and all loose trash that is expected to be picked up by the local waste collection corporation.
In a post on social media Friday, Jeff Simms, Caldwell County Magistrate for District 4 and Account Manager for Waste Corporation of America, which collects all trash within Princeton, Fredonia, and Caldwell County, says that in an effort to help with two problems at once he would attempt to share with citizens an issue that both the county and WCA are facing.
He adds that he received a complaint that not all the trash had been removed from a customer’s trash can. Simms explains that this problem occurs when loose trash is not bagged and conforms to the bottom of the can. He notes that truck drivers use the side arm to lift the can approximately 13 feet in the air to dump the trash into the truck and therefore cannot see if contents are left inside. For safety reasons trash collectors cannot check every trash can individually.
To remove any such compacted garbage from inside the can, Simms states, that the driver would have to violently swing the mechanical arm, which would likely break the lid of the can and could potentially damage the hydraulics on the truck, leading to delays in service.
He also explains that loose trash left on top of bags within the can can be flung out of the truck during the dumping process, allowing it to fall onto roadways and become scattered across neighborhoods, causing the county to spend $20,000 to $40,000 annually to pick it up again.
Simms expresses that keeping the community clean is a joint effort and WCA needs the help of it’s customers and a huge way to help is by remembering to bag all of your trash.
Simms ended the post by thanking all the drivers for WCA and the residents of Caldwell County for helping keep this community clean, but that everyday is an opportunity to improve.
