Trash collection is a hot topic in Irving currently. We have citizens who want to keep the current bag system, some that want to move to a bin collection system, and some that just want to have the two day bag collection reinstated.
We currently have a shortage of sanitation employees. The city of Irving is need a way to recruit more employees to the sanitation department. Trash collection is one of the toughest jobs that a CDL driver can have. The teams collecting the trash are currently rotating out who is driving and who is picking up the trash and placing it into the back of the trucks so that employees can have a break from the manual side of the job and also from any inclement weather conditions. They work in 100 plus degree weather during the summer and below freezing weather during the winter. They are lifting bags up to 50 lbs continuously throughout the day. They run the risk of getting hit by cars to collect trash from both sides of the street. Just telling someone that they can get the same pay and better benefits isn’t going to entice people to take a job with the conditions they are working in.
Going back to two days a week for collection is not going to happen with the bag collection system the city currently has in place. In order to go back to two day a week, the city should go with automation or drastically increase the fee for collection. As it currently is, Irving has one of the highest collection fees in the metroplex. Going back to the current bag system with two day a week collection just is not practical.
Retaining the current bag system is going to become more expensive long term. We will need to continue to raise salaries to continue to be competitive with other cities and the private sector. The medical costs due to having manual collections is also higher for the city due to the increased rate of injuries. As more cities around the country move away from manual trash collection, the manual collection trucks not outfitted for automation pickup will grow more expensive. While having less technology, the manual pickup trucks will become more of a niche product with a higher price tag. If the city does not adapt to the ever growing automation system taking over, it will become more costly to replace the harder to find manual pick up trucks that are currently in use here. There are also trucks that are specifically designed for alleyway or tight street area pickups.
If the city of Irving chooses to move to an automation pickup, there have been concerns raised by several citizens. Solutions can be found to overcome these hurdles. Irving can have variable size bins from around 20 gallons (about 2 kitchen garbage bags) up to 96 gallons. (I am including this link to use for an example of bins that are in use in another location to give a prime example of this. https://www.accgov.com/1312/Rates). We can have door step pickup for the elderly or disabled residents that cannot maneuver a bin to the curb. The city can either have the drivers pick up the trash manually from their porch or create have a special team that can take care of these residents. Having bins will give us a place to store trash until the next trash day without placing bags outside the home creating unsightly scenes with piles of trash bags when driving by or add extra costs and headaches at having to install a trash storage system outside the home.
The money not being used due to short staffing can be allocated to retrofit the current sanitation trucks being used to pick up bins until those trucks are in need of being replaced and also to start providing bins to the citizens. Another good argument for automation to be adopted by Irving is that animals will be far less likely to be able to get into the trash bins than they are to get into the bags. With the current bag collection system, once an animal gets into a trash bag, trash in scattered onto the curb. The weight of the trash bin plus its contents will make it less likely that trash will be blown throughout the neighborhoods. To address concerns of bins being stolen, the city can help its citizens reduce this fear by painting the address on the assigned bin provided and/or burn in a bar code or qr code on the bins.
List of current collection fees throughout the DFW metroplex (without senior discounts):
Dallas $34.30
Irving $32.50
University Park $31.85 ($27.52 trash + $4.33 recycling)
Duncanville $27.04
Richardson - $24.00
Fort Worth (32 gallon) $12.50 – (96 gallon) $22.75
Frisco $21.00
Plano (68 gallon) $14.04 – (95 gallon) 19.60
Arlington $18.50
McKinney $17.92
Grand Prairie $17.82
Bedford $17.73 ($24.81 for doorstep pickup)
Grapevine $16.91
Flower Mound $14.87
(information obtained from city websites)
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