With the closure of the Chicopee Landfill approaching, the City will begin implementing its new trash reduction program beginning Monday May 1st. All trash will only be collected from residences in new 35-gallon trash carts which will be distributed to each household over the next few weeks. The goal is to decrease trash, increase recycling and reduce costs.
The Chicopee Trash Reduction Program offers each household currently receiving curbside service, one 35-gallon wheeled cart for weekly trash collection at no direct cost to the residents. Trash may be placed in this cart and the lid must be closed for pickup.
The curbside collection schedule will remain the same. Trash will still be collected weekly. Recycling and yard waste collections will continue to be collected on the same day of the week as trash according to the published bi-weekly schedule. Recycling and yard waste may not be placed in the new 35-gallon wheeled trash cart.
Residents producing excess weekly trash, or more trash than can fit into the 35-gallon cart, must put that extra trash in special City of Chicopee yellow overflow trash bags for curbside pickup. Trash can be placed inside of the trash cart in regular trash bags. The special yellow overflow bags are not for trash inside of the carts but for excess trash that does not fit inside of the cart. Trash that is outside of the cart and not properly placed in a yellow City of Chicopee overflow bag will be stickered and left behind. The overflow bags will be available in local retail stores beginning in April.
When the landfill does close in approximately one year, the City of Chicopee’s disposal fee will approximately double. The new trash reduction program will help to reduce the amount of trash and cut disposal costs in order to offset a portion of those cost increases. Currently, about 140 municipalities in Massachusetts have waste reduction plans similar to Chicopee’s new approach and have reduced their waste by 15-30%. This amount of waste reduction is possible in Chicopee.
For more information or if you have any questions, please contact the Chicopee DPW at 413-594-3566 or visit www.chicopeema.gov.
###