Residents urged to follow WastePro debris guidelines

Published 9:56 am Thursday, May 26, 2016

Q: What are the requirements for WastePro to pick up vegetative debris from yards? When will vegetative debris be picked up?

A: The city of Brookhaven is under contract with WastePro for vegetative debris, garbage, bulky waste and recycling pick up, Ward 4 Alderman Shirley Estes said.

Vegetative debris is what you would call yard waste, which includes grass clippings, leaves and tree branches, Estes said.

“For vegetative debris, WastePro asks that no one clean up their yard and line a third of the block with debris,” Estes said. “They prefer that homeowners create several piles next to each other, with some separation between them. They also ask that the piles are not extremely tall because they have to deal with power lines when they use the equipment to pick up the debris.”

WastePro will not remove vegetative debris if paper products, metal, old plastic flower pots and similar items are thrown into the pile of debris, Estes said.

“You have contaminated that pile of debris when you throw items like that in to it,” Estes said. “You might say, ‘Well, why can’t they just separate it out,’ but that is not their job. It’s our responsibility to put a clean yard waste pile there.”

Vegetative debris should not be bagged so that WastePro can check for contaminated items, and all piles of debris should be within five feet of the curb for them to pick it up, Estes said.

If a homeowner hires a business to cut down a tree in their yard or a landscaper, it is the responsibility of the company doing the work to remove the tree or debris, not WastePro, Estes said.

The vegetative debris pick-up schedule is as follows:

• Monday: Ward 2 and 3

• Tuesday: Ward 5

• Wednesday: Ward 6

• Thursday: Ward 1

• Friday: Ward 4

Bulky waste could mean stoves, refrigerators, water tanks or washing machines, Estes said.

“If somebody empties out a whole house, then that homeowner will have to pay to have the bulky waste picked up,” Estes said. “But, say I put out one old air conditioner, then they will pick it up. They may not pick it up right then because they don’t have the right truck, but they will pick it up.”

WastePro will only pick up one bulky item at a time per residence, Estes said.