UPDATE (June 28, 2022):
It’s one more week of bad trash service in Fort Wayne. City leaders are asking people to hold on this week as the contract with Red River Waste comes to an end.
Fort Wayne has been fighting with Red River over missed, late, or incomplete trash service for years. On Friday Fort Wayne will start with a new trash company, GFL.
Tuesday morning, the City issued the following regarding the transition:
We’re just a few days away from GFL Environmental USA becoming the City of Fort Wayne’s garbage and recycling hauler.Mayor Tom Henry today was joined by leaders from the City of Fort Wayne’s Public Works Division, City of Fort Wayne Solid Waste Department, GFL, and members of City Council to provide a final education and outreach update prior to GFL starting services on Friday.Highlights of what solid waste customers can expect beginning Friday:*There won’t be any changes to collection dates or A and B recycling weeks. Residents will continue to use their City-provided bins. Residents will continue to report misses to 311.*There will be a few changes to how the collection process will work commencing Friday. In addition to materials being collected in the City-provided cart, residents may set out three additional plastic garbage bags or yard waste bags. Individual bag weight cannot exceed 35 pounds. Residents who regularly have three or more bags are encouraged to sign up for an additional cart for $2 per month to place additional trash items. This can be done by contacting 311.*Bulk collection will be performed by City crews until a permanent solution is agreed upon between the City Administration and City Council. Residents may continue to set out one piece of furniture or non-freon appliance on collection day. Materials will be collected within 48 hours. Also, residents should continue to wrap mattresses and box springs if those items are set out.Residents should be aware that garbage and recycling won’t be collected on Monday, July 4 in observance of Independence Day. Collections will run a day behind each day next week.Rates continue to be evaluated. We know that we won’t be able to continue to charge just $12 per month for all solid waste-related activities that make up the monthly solid waste charge that residents see on their City Utilities bill. But, the City will not set rates that overcharge customers. Our goal is to keep costs as low as possible. A final decision will be made in the coming weeks between the City Administration and City Council.Leaders have placed an emphasis on communicating with the public leading up to the change in the provider of collection services. The public is encouraged to visit www.cityoffortwayne/solidwaste for information about the transition to GFL.“Better days are ahead as GFL becomes our new partner to meet the needs of the community. We’re confident in GFL’s ability to do an outstanding job as we come together to work in a collaborative manner to move Fort Wayne forward,” said Mayor Henry. “I appreciate and value the patience and understanding that residents and neighborhoods have demonstrated through the challenges we’ve experienced in collecting garbage and recycling materials. Now, we’ve turned a negative into a positive with the selection of GFL. The public is going to see a noticeable change beginning Friday. Fort Wayne residents deserve the very best.”Last month, GFL received the necessary approvals from City Council and the Board of Public Works to become the City’s new garbage and recycling hauler.GFL is the fourth largest diversified environmental services company in North America with facilities throughout Canada and more than half of the U.S. states. GFL has experience in Fort Wayne by operating a transfer station here since 2020, and they have a landfill in Claypool, Ind.The bid specifications and new contract have items that are designed to help ensure enhanced services moving forward and a contractor with the necessary experience and past successes to meet the needs of the City.Highlights of the education and outreach efforts:*City of Fort Wayne public works and solid waste leaders, along with GFL representatives presented information at five neighborhood meetings this month – Neighborhood Presidents’ Meeting, Southeast Area Partnership, Northeast Area Partnership, Southwest Area Partnership, and Northwest Area Partnership.*Information has been shared on the City’s website, social media platforms, City TV programming, and public service announcements on television, radio, and in print.*All solid waste customers have received a postcard in the mail explaining the key points of how collections will work.*Non-English speaking residents, particularly Spanish and Burmese, have been provided with information in their respective languages.The City works each day to provide the best solid waste collection services possible to the 83,400 households that are serviced.
UPDATE (June 17, 2022):
The City of Fort Wayne’s Solid Waste Department today provided an update on recycling collection.
Beginning Monday, June 20, recycling collection will resume for those on the B Week recycling schedule.
Residents are asked to set out their recycling the night before their usual collection day. A Week recycling will resume the following Monday, June 27.
The City apologizes for the inconvenience during this transition period and thanks the residents of Fort Wayne for their continued patience and understanding.
ORIGINAL STORY:
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (ADAMS) – The City of Fort Wayne has provided an update on solid waste services.
For this week, crews are focusing on garbage collection. At the beginning of the week, Red River crews were finishing garbage collections on Thursday and Friday routes and City of Fort Wayne crews were working on Monday routes.
Recycling won’t be collected this week. The City of Fort Wayne Solid Waste Department is hopeful that recycling collection will begin again next week with the B week recycling schedule. Residents may want to consider bringing their recycling bins in from the curb or alley until a regular rotation of collections can begin again.
The City issued the following:
Residents are asked to continue to set out garbage materials the night before their regularly scheduled day of pickup. We’ll do our best to provide the collection service as close to their regular day as possible. As often as possible, crews are collecting garbage on the evenings and on weekends.
The Solid Waste Department continues to do its best to assist Red River to maintain operational levels for garbage and recycling collection. We continue to utilize City staff to assist with the routes and misses that Red River is unable to service with their lower staffing levels and higher tonnage in recent weeks.
It’s likely that delays will continue until GFL Environmental USA takes over the collection service on July 1.
The City apologizes for the inconvenience during this transition period and thanks the residents of Fort Wayne for their continued patience and understanding.
