What you need to know about Carson City’s new Waste Management service

Carson City’s new trash collection service is rolling out — literally — in the next couple of weeks.

New garbage, recycling and yard waste carts are now being delivered to residents across the city in anticipation of a new contract and new services that go into effect July 1.

Also, a mailer went out this week to inform residents of their pickup day, which may have changed. The city’s routes, which have remained the same for two decades, have been redrawn for the greatest efficiency and a significant number of homes will have a different day of service starting July 1, said Rick Cooley, operations manager, Public Works.

The new, 15-year contract with Waste Management of Nevada includes weekly trash collection and single-stream recycling and lawn waste pickup on alternating weeks as well as bulk item disposal up to four times a year by appointment.

Waste collection also is now mandatory: every household in Carson City will get the service, which is billed quarterly at a rate of $17.59 per month, unless the residence applies for an exemption to take their trash to a landfill instead.

So far, only 15 residents have applied for an exemption, which requires them to produce six months of receipts showing they use a landfill at least monthly, said Cooley.

“We were originally thinking it would be a large group but it hasn’t materialized,” he said.

That’s surprising considering the busy Carson City landfill. The landfill doesn’t keep track of individual users, but Cooley said the landfill takes in $10 each from roughly 200 visitors a day in the summer and 100 a day the rest of the year. Those $10-per-visit users are a combination of Carson City residents, some small businesses, and out of county patrons. (The landfill also is utilized by other commercial users but they’re charged more based on the amount of trash being dumped).

“As we get closer to July 1 we’re going to be hearing from a lot more people,” said Kendra Kostelecky, communications specialist, Waste Management.

The rollout of carts has produced few calls so far either, said Cooley. Residents were sent a notice to order the kind of carts they wanted — 35, 65 or 95 gallons or some combination of that — or three standard 96 gallon carts, one each for trash, recycling and yard waste, would be automatically delivered.

Attached to one of the new carts is an information package, which includes a flyer on what can be put in trash, recycling and yard waste, a FAQ sheet, and a sticker to put on old carts to be hauled away by Waste Management once new carts are delivered. Also, the flyers mailed this week to tell residents their service day includes a six-month calendar showing the alternating weeks for recycling and yard waste pickup.

For information, contact Waste Management at 775-343-7596 home.wm.com/Carson-City or the local service office at 5560 Sheep Drive.

Carson City FAQ sheet: https://d29vteoucqv716.cloudfront.net/a4480000006oNunAAE/Residential+Fact+Sheet+for+FA.pdf