PULLMAN — More efficient grid-based garbage collection is coming to the far South and Southwest sides next week.
Joined by Aldermen Michelle Harris (8th) and Anthony Beale (9th), Mayor Rahm Emanuel cheered what Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Charles Williams called "the final phase" of the citywide transition to a grid-based system of trash collection at a Pullman news conference Thursday.
"Adopting the grid garbage collection system allows us to replace an outdated method that started when garbage was still collected by horse and buggy and divert personnel resources to support the citywide expansion of recycling," Emanuel said. He repeated estimates that the new garbage pickup system will save the city $18 million a year.
Previously, garbage was collected by ward, and Beale was the among the aldermen who feared the new system would mean they'd lose control over an essential city service to constituents. But he said Thursday at a Pullman Streets & San facility that Williams had made his department responsive to aldermanic requests.
Beale also cheered bringing recycling to his South Side ward.
The department has been distributing "Change in Garbage Service Day" notices to the affected neighborhoods ahead of Monday's formal changeover.
The eighth and final phase of the switch stretches from the Southeast Side across Pullman to Mount Greenwood. Streets & San officials said the first week can be difficult, as some residents will go more than seven days without a trash pickup, but it soon smoothes out and returns to normal.
Residents can get more information at the Streets & San website, or by calling 311 or their ward office.
