The City of Durham's new curbside recycling program began today with Durham residents using their new 95-gallon blue roll-out carts for bi-weekly collection.

This week begins the bi-weekly collection for the new "blue zone" customers. Households in the "blue zone" have already received their new roll-out cart and collection schedule and should begin using their new cart this week on their current collection day.

According to Donald Long, director of the City's Department of Solid Waste Management, a few streets in the "blue zone" areas received carts without a recycling collection schedule attached in a plastic bag, explaining the new program in more detail. "If carts are received without an attachment, residents are urged to contact Durham One Call at (919) 560-1200 to report the missing schedule and learn whether they are a "blue zone" or "red zone" customer. Once we know which households did not receive a collection schedule with their new cart, our crews will then deliver a schedule to that home."

Residents can also visit the City's Web site at www.durhamnc.gov/departments/solid/pdf/recycling_map.pdf to determine whether they are a "blue zone" or "red zone" customer based on their street address within the city. Once that has been determined, a collection schedule for the entire year can then be downloaded at www.durhamnc.gov/departments/solid/pdf/blue_schedule052909.pdf for "blue zone" customers or www.durhamnc.gov/departments/solid/pdf/red_schedule052909.pdf for "red zone" customers.

Beginning next week collection will start for "red zone" customers, some of whom are still receiving their new roll-out carts this week. According to Long, all carts will be delivered to all "red zone" customers by the end of this week in time for their bi-weekly collection to begin the week of Monday, July 20.

Long also clarified that, at this time, only residents who live in townhomes, condominiums, or are listed on the "exempt" list have the option of requesting 35- and 65-gallon containers if the 95-gallon container is too big for their needs. "We are only offering the smaller recycling carts to these residents at this time," Long said. "We will in the future offer smaller carts to residents that live in single-family homes. But for now, our top priority is to provide residents that live in townhomes or are on our ‘exempt' list with the option to request a smaller recycling cart." Exempt customers include residents who are physically disabled and have an Exempt Collection Request Form signed by their physician on file with the City's Department of Solid Waste Management. Long also emphasized that only recycling should be placed in the new recycling carts and it was not to be used for household garbage overflow.

According to Long, while the initial change to the new curbside recycling program may come with some minor hiccups as residents get used to the new schedule, the overall benefit of moving to the new program is worth it. "As with any launch of a program that affects every single household in the city limits, there are a few problems are to be expected. Our staff is working very hard to ensure that all households have their carts prior to their new pick-up schedule and that all households have a copy of their respective collection schedule," Long said. "We truly feel that once we get through the first couple of weeks of adjusting to this new program, our citizens are going to recycle more, while at the same time enjoy the convenience of using a larger cart they can easily roll to their curb. At the end of the day, this is saving the City a significant amount of money as well. It's truly a win-win situation for all."

Residents that live in the neighborhoods that pilot-tested the new recycling program earlier this year will have their TFC recycling carts removed beginning this week. The TFC carts should be at their curb for removal the same day they received their collection as part of the pilot program. The neighborhoods that will receive cart removal beginning this week are Grove Park, Eagle View/Point, Country Club, Stone Hill, and Landon, Fiske, and Fidelity Streets in Wellons Village. The pilot neighborhoods that will receive cart removal next week are Wellington, Garrett Farms, Dover Ridge, and Old Farms.

The new curbside recycling program isn't the only change occurring this week. The bulky item collection program is now provided on a weekly basis. Citizens should place up to three bulky items at their curb the same day as their garbage collection. As crews pick up the weekly garbage collection in the green roll-out carts, they'll note the bulky items set on the curb and crews will return the next day to collect them.

Yard waste collection customers will also need to take note of a new collection schedule beginning today. The brown roll-out carts should still be placed at the curb the same day as the weekly garbage collection in the green roll-out carts. However, the yard waste carts will not be serviced until the next day, streamlining the collection into a Tuesday through Friday operation.

The final service change going into effect this week is that Friday garbage, recycling, and yard waste customers should now set their carts out on Wednesday.

To learn more about any of these changes, visit the City's Web site at www.durhamnc.gov/departments/solid/recycle_curb_collection.cfm or contact Durham One Call at (919) 560-1200.