[Archived] Alexandria Will Improve Refuse Collection Service With New Routes and Pickup Days

City Press Release


	City of Alexandria, Virginia Office of the City Manager Alexandria City Hall 301 King Street, Suite 3500 Alexandria, Virginia 22314-3211 www.alexandriava.gov Telephone: 703.838.4300 Fax : 703.838.6343

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 15, 2004
PIO 296.04/bg

Alexandria Will Improve Refuse Collection Service
With New Routes and Pickup Days
Curbside Recycling will also Increase

About 19,000 Alexandria households which receive refuse and recycling collection from the City of Alexandria may be served on new routes and different days beginning the end of January, 2005. The changes are necessary in order to reduce the amount of truck traffic, noise and pollution on neighborhood streets, and to provide more efficient service to residents. In addition to the change in refuse collection routes, the City is expanding the types of material that will be picked up at the curb for recycling. Only households which receive City refuse collection (about 19,000 out of about 70,000 households) will have a new collection day and expanded recycling. Residents who receive service from private companies will not be affected.

The new collection routes and days will begin Jan. 31. Households will be notified of their new collection day by mail in early January. Refuse collection schedules, including the day of pickup and a map of routes, is posted on the City web site alexandriava.gov/tes . Residents can enter their address to verify their new collection day. An additional reminder notice will be delivered to households two weeks prior to the start date.

The types of materials that will be picked up at the curb for recycling will expand the end of January to include office paper and cardboard. “Office paper” includes office and computer paper of all colors, junk mail and writing paper. Food and candy wrappers, milk cartons and juice boxes, for example, are not included. To recycle office paper, it may be mixed with newspaper and magazines in a brown paper bag, while cardboard can be flattened and placed under the yellow recycle bin for collection. Items currently collected at the curb include plastic bottles and jugs, glass bottles and jars, aluminum and steel cans, newspapers, magazines, catalogs and telephone books. The City hired a private company, Century Disposal of Maryland, to provide the expanded curbside recycling.

For more information about new collection routes and expanded recycling, visit the City’s web site alexandriava.gov/tes or contact the City’s Solid Waste Division at 703.751.5130.

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