The heavy snowfall and ice buildup we’ve seen during the past several weeks in the Boise area has had a major impact on the ability of Republic Services -- the trash and recycling contractor for the City of Boise -- to collect trash and recycling in city alleys, officials said.
“Due to snow, icy ruts, and ice berms in many alleys, collection trucks have been unable to safely access those routes. In particular, managers are concerned that the loaded 50,000-pound trucks that require up to nine-feet of clearance width could damage private property or infrastructure in tight alleys,” said Boise City Public Works spokesman Colin Hickman.
For customers whose alleys are inaccessible to collection trucks, Republic Services asks they continue to place trash and recycling carts as close to the nearest plowed street as possible, in a visible and accessible location by 7 a.m. on their regular collection day, or the night before.
The closest location may be in front of a house or at the end of an alley.
Republic Services will also pick up all overflow trash and recycling.
If customers cannot move their carts to the street for collection, trash is being accepted in plastic garbage bags and recycling will be accepted in large paper leaf bags and/or cardboard boxes not to exceed 35 pounds each.
“This month’s historic snowfall has created significant challenges for safely collecting trash and recycling in a number of areas in the city,” said Catherine Chertudi, Solid Waste Environmental Manager for the City of Boise. “We understand the hardship this has caused for many of our customers and ask continued patience as we work to find solutions for collecting trash and recycling safely. We ask that neighbors help keep their neighbors informed and, if they are unable, to help them get their trash and recycling to accessible locations until routes return to normal.”
For those customers whose trash and recycling has been collected as usual in the past week, they can continue to set out both trash and recycling on their standard collection day in their normal location, Hickman said.
Customers with collection questions are urged to contact Republic Services at (208) 345-1266.
