Over the last several years, Republic Services has cancelled regular trash pickup days in entirely due to in-climate weather or COVID. These cancellations often leave trash carts full. Most residents must stage their trash and hope that they pickup the extra bags of garbage that has accumulated. Hope that the neighborhood cats, dogs, and rats don’t open them causing more issues.
In contrast to those who use Republic Services in the county areas, City and County RP customers are treated differently. For example, when you hire Republic Services as a private customer to pickup trash 52 times a year, then they will pickup trash 52 times a year even if it means being delayed by a day or two due to unforseen circumstances. This is not true inside the City limits of Evansville where they are likely to skip out on entire neighborhoods when they decide to skip a pickup day and announce that trash pickup will “resume” next week for those who were missed.
In 2019, the Evansville City Council voted 8-1 to increase the fee associated with recycling services that would be added to the overall trash bill seen on the EWSU water bill. In an article in the Evansville Courier and Press, it was noted that recycling fees would be raised from $10.50 to $13.30 by 2022 inside of a 3 year window. One would presume that a recycling fee is used to….recycle products that are listed on the Evansville Water and Sewer website?
(ABOVE: A screenshot from the EWSU website.)
Today, only Plastic #1,#2, and #5, cardboard, paper, and metals are recycled through the Evansville trash cart systems.
(ABOVE: A green lid trash cart full of non-recyclable debris that Republic Services will never pickup in this condition.)
Is it true that Republic Services will not empty a green lid trash cart if it has regular trash in it?
Leaf Disposal looks good on paper
Is it true that Republic Services has a leaf pickup program that occurs once a year? That during this special program, bags of extra leaves that are picked up and packaged in special paper recycle bags that are further sat out to the curb next to the normal trash cans will be picked up and disposed of during the next regular pickup day. These special bags that Evansville residents are required to use, ends up being mixed in with the regular trash pickup (Same trash truck picks it up) and dumped at the landfill along with everything else.
This Curmudgeon exclaims, “What a horse and pony show!” Glass, leaves, more plastic than not ends up in the landfill. It is a deception and a disservice to make Evansville residents believe that we are still recycling glass. That we have a special place for tree leaves and compost material at the Laubscher Meadow landfill or elsewhere in the county. That we have a service that is comparable to the same service that is found in the county pickup services. When will Evansville neighborhoods get the same treatment of trash pickup services that private/county Republic Service residents get? When will the City of Evansville ever grow some balls and put some claw back options in the city contract when Republic Services fails to pickup contractual trash or debris obligations? When will the powers that be swallow some pride and admit that we have no glass or plastic 3, 4, 6, or 7 recycle or any yard waste composting programs currently underway?