By Michael P. Walsh
Special to the Voice
The city reminds residents not to put Christmas trees in plastic bags or stands for curbside pickup.
Lights must also be removed from Christmas trees. Plastic bags and other items can become tangled in the machine that grinds the trees into compost.
Christmas trees will be picked up in January only. Residents needing a pickup after January will be charged a $25 fee. Christmas trees can also be brought to the compost site at 1 Kimberly Ave.
The 2019 leaf bag pickup schedule is April 1-June 1 and Oct. 1-Dec. 31.
Grass clippings are not allowed in leaf bags, per state law. Leaves must be in biodegradable paper bags and will not be accepted if they are in plastic bags.
“Crews will not pick up leaf bags containing anything other than leaves,” Public Works Commissioner Tom McCarthy said. “No grass, no branches, no sand, no rocks, no dirt.”
Residents are also reminded that brush and branches should be tied in small bundles. Logs and stumps will not be picked up, McCarthy said.
All leaf bags and brush are disposed of at the compost site, where they are grinded into compost. Compost is free with proof of residence.
McCarthy pointed out that residents can bring grass clippings as well as bagged leaves and untied brush to the compost site from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays and, starting in the spring, from 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays.
Also, residents are reminded that five holidays during the year delay curbside pickup one day.
Affordable Waste Systems LLC of East Haven, the city’s private contractor for rubbish and recyclables, will not pick up rubbish, recyclables or metals Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
If a holiday falls on a weekday, pickup for that week will move ahead one day.
But when a holiday like Thanksgiving falls on a Thursday, only Thursday and Friday’s collections will move up a day.
Thanksgiving is also the only holiday that excludes metal pickup in those affected districts.
Separate metals and recyclables from regular trash.
Detailed information about the city’s trash and recycling guidelines is available at http://www.cityofwesthaven.com/260/Bulk-Trash-Pickup.