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Politics & Government

Pilot Trash Program to Continue in Hyattsville

City switched from twice-weekly to once-a-week trash pickup in January and plans to continue the program until the end of the year.

Trash pickup in Hyattsville continues to go smoothly after making a switch from twice-weekly to once-a-week collection in January, city representatives say.

Hyattsville spokeswoman Abby Sandel said the pilot program, which began Jan. 4, will last until the end of the year, at which time the city council will review the program and decide what the next steps will be.

Any residents who expressed disapproval of the change no longer actively complain on the H.O.P.E in Hyattsville listserv, said the list's moderator Jim Groves.

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"I always say, people are going to complain, complain, complain, but when it's all said and done, they're going to comply," he said.

He said one of the complaints he saw on the listserv were of smelly trash once the summer hit, but he said he personally never experienced any issues with especially foul-smelling trash.

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"I think it was more of a fear than an actual concern," he said.

Sandel said the decrease in the frequency of trash collection in the city was the result of a suggestion made in a management and efficiency study completed last year. The study reviewed all city operations and offered many suggestions, but the first suggestion the city moved on was trash.

The change is partially a cost-saving effort – the study estimated that the city could save $230,000 to nearly $400,000 per year, though Sandel said the city will not know how much it has saved until the end of the year – but it was also informed by the fact that few other municipalities still had twice-weekly pickup.

"It's not very common to have trash collected twice a week anymore," she said.

Other concerns expressed were overflowing trash toters, said both Groves and Sandel. To address that issue, Sandel said the town is working to provide additional toters to households that need them.

"Residents can request an additional toter, or if we notice that the trash is overflowing, we'll just knock on their door and give them another toter," she said.

But Groves said he doesn't see why any family would create more trash than the toter could hold.

"Hopefully, people are recycling more. So from an environment standpoint, there's a benefit. But if people have that much trash, then they're not recycling," he said.

See a map with the new trash pickup days and routes here.

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