WORCESTER, Mass. - New city recycling bins with lids could be delivered to Worcester residents beginning in mid to late-November.
The city of Worcester will need to order 55,000 new bins with lids for each curbside collection household. The Worcester Department of Public Works (DPW) expects to begin receiving 10,000 new bins every few weeks beginning in November.
The availability of the bins will rely on the availability of plastic resin and the quantity manufacturers can produce. The DPW hopes to have all bins to Worcester households by the end of the winter.
The bins will be delivered based on trash recycling routes, starting with Wednesday pickups, which includes parts of downtown, Vernon Hill, and Main South. Each collection day is comprised of 9,500 to 12,500 household units and the areas that get trash picked up on Wednesday has the highest concentration of multi-family housing, on-street parking, according to the DPW, making it the area that would benefit the most by getting the new recycling containers first.
Once the households in the Wednesday collection route have been delivered the new bins, containers will be delivered to Thursday, Friday, Monday and Tuesday routes. Containers will be delivered on the weekends and once all routes have been delivered to, the DPW will host pickup days for residents that didn't receive a new bin.
According to the DPW, the number one problem existing in the city's recycling program is plastic bags being recycled. In response to the issue, at the same time the new bins are being delivered, the City will also be rolling out a multi-lingual public education campaign directed at reducing contamination and instructing residents on how to recycle, as well as information on the dangers and costs of recycling plastic bags.