‘The next step in the evolution of garbage pickup’

FARMINGTON HILLS — Last year, the city of Farmington Hills entered into a contract with Green For Life Environmental USA, also known as GFL, for trash, recycling and yard waste pickup services.

According to Derrick Schueller, who is the superintendent of Farmington Hills’ Department of Public Works, on Sept. 18, Farmington Hills, in partnership with GFL, began deploying new black 95-gallon wheeled trash carts to residential dwellings that participate in curbside refuse collection.

The carts are expected to be distributed on a rolling basis through mid-October.

Garbage collection with the new carts is set to begin the week of Oct. 9.

“For most folks, a 95-gallon trash cart will handle all their weekly trash needs — it’s kind of the sweet spot for sizing,” Schueller said. “It’s going to make it easier for them, because now they’ve got a cart with the attached lid, with the wheels, so, hopefully, (it) makes it easier to get the trash to the curb, and then it also helps from the contractor’s end, because it’s less lifting. They can empty these cans mechanically, instead of having somebody lift that full can to dump it out.”

According to a release from the city of Farmington Hills, homeowners with existing cans can continue to use them to collect additional trash and place them alongside the new carts for pickup.

The release states that bulk items will also be collected as part of the regular weekly pickup, in accordance with current guidelines.

“There are many homeowner benefits to using the new trash carts, which are safer and are a more efficient means to place refuse curbside,” Karen Mondora, the city’s director of public services, stated in the release. “The new carts have wheels and attached lids, and they are made of durable plastic. They’ll also provide for improved contractor safety and overall operations.”

Although the new carts were part of the city’s contract with GFL, according to Schueller, “it was more of a timing thing of when we actually pulled the trigger.”

“But it was considered from jump street, as far as moving to that,” he said. “That was kind of the next step in the evolution of garbage pickup, so it was put in the contract initially, to go that route.”

In a previous interview with the Press, Mondora stated that the city’s contract with GFL was for five years, with optional extensions for up to three years.

She said that GFL’s bid price was $149.40 per home per year, with an escalator for each year.

Prior to GFL, Farmington Hills contracted with Waste Management, “and Waste Management’s bid was $203.88 for one year,” Mondora said.

“I’ve had one where I live for 15 years – the same cart,” Schueller said. “It just makes it easy for me to put all my garbage bags in that cart and roll it out each week. It’s a perfect size; it accommodates most families.”

Schueller shared another advantage of the new carts.

“It really does clean things up as well,”  he said. “This is gonna tidy up, even from the curb standpoint, when you put your trash out. I think there’ll be less debris out there.”