Ridgeland, county trash schedules changing
Trash collection days in both the city of Ridgeland and Madison County are set to change this month, Waste Management has announced.
Changes are set to go into effect at the beginning of the week on June 20.
In Ridgeland, Waste Management said the area of town east of I-55 and south of the Natchez Trace will change their pickup days to Tuesday and Friday and the rest of the city will have trash pickup on Monday and Thursday.
Recycling will be relegated to its own day, Wednesday, citywide. Holloway said the goal was to eliminate trash pickup on Saturday and Wednesday.
Holloway said they are finalizing routes for other parts of the county and customers on those routes will be notified.
Public Sector Solutions Director David Holloway said that new routes and days would be well advertised by the company.
He said they plan to get the word out through mailers, social media and paid advertising in local media.
The proposed route changes were approved by the Ridgeland Mayor and Board of Alderman in a unanimous vote on Tuesday evening at their regularly scheduled meeting. Ward 4 Alderman Brian Ramsey was absent.
Waste Management officials originally suggested the change a the May 17 regular meeting. Ward 6 Alderman Wesley Hamlin asked that the item be tabled to the June 7 meeting to allow the Alderman to gauge public opinion.
Aldermen reported a mixed responses, though Alderman-at-Large D.I. Smith described the feedback he got as “more positive than negative” and specifically flagged eliminating Saturday pickup as a feature those he talked to favored.
Waste Management representatives said in May the proposed plan is “logistically” the best for all of their customers and benefits included being more organized and optimized.
They said recent changes to their contract with the city of Jackson impose certain challenges on scheduling drivers and equipment.
Specifically, they have proposed schedule changes to customers in Rankin, Copiah and Madison counties as well as the city of Clinton.
They said there are currently no proposed changes in the city of Madison.
Waste Management representatives said that where they have instituted a dedicated day for recycling they have seen increased participation in the program and that they would expect to see that in Ridgeland.
Holloway said Tuesday that he did not expect to make further changes to the routes following Tuesday approval.