Shelton Aldermen approved changes to the city’s household garbage and recycling program last month.
Click here to read a notice on the city’s website about what the changes — which are now in effect — mean to residents. Click here for details on the pick-up schedule for the week of Labor Day.
Briefly, residents will get new trash containers with wheels and lids, a brown one for garbage and a blue one for recycling, that will be collected using automated trucks — with those cool robot arms that extend from the truck’s body, clamp the containers in their claws, and raise them to dump contents into the vehicle.
City officials have said the changes will save the city millions of dollars in the long run, mainly by spending less money sending trash to be incinerated and by selling recyclable materials.
The city put a promotional video from the truck manufacturer — complete with dramatic, synth-heavy introduction — on its website to show how it works. Click the play button below to watch. Article continues after the video.
Aldermen voted unanimously to make the changes at their regular monthly meeting in August.
Aldermanic President John Anglace said before the meeting that the city will still have lots of work to do in order for the program to work optimally.
“If we don’t do a good job of getting the public to understand what the expanded recycling program allows, then we’re not going to realize the benefits of it,” Anglace said.
Click here to see a list of what can be recycled, under the heading “ITEMS THAT CAN BE PUT INTO RECYCLING CONTAINER ARE:”
“This transition is not going to be without its challenges,” Anglace went on. “There are going to be issues that pop up, and we’ll have to deal with them. But that’s OK. We’ll get over the initial hurdle and this will be a very positive long-term program for the city.”
Public Works Director Paul DiMauro said Thursday the biggest problems he anticipates will be in high-traffic areas.
“Where we figured we’d run into difficulties is where you get into the congested areas in the downtown, where there’s a lot of parked cars, etc.” DiMauro said.
He said parking will probably be restricted in such areas for about four hours per week during collection times.
“That way the trucks, with the automated arm, will be able to reach in and grab them,” DiMauro said.
DiMauro is also working with different condominium communities throughout town to iron out any problems.
“Some of the condo areas, because of the way their roadways are configured, it’s near impossible and dangerous to have vehicles go in and maneuver in those areas,” he said.
In such areas, DiMauro said residents can bring their containers to a central area for the trucks to empty all at once.
Minimizing mileage on the collection trucks will benefit the city financially and in other ways, he said.
“The less we back these trucks up and move them around, the more the city’s going to save, and the more environmentally sound it is,” DiMauro said.
