A new company will haul garbage for South County residents this
week for the first time in more than 50 years.
A new company will haul garbage for South County residents this week for the first time in more than 50 years.
GreenWaste Recovery will begin hauling garbage in South County’s rural areas starting Saturday, Jan. 2 taking over for Recology South Valley, formerly South Valley Disposal and Recycling. The county hired GreenWaste earlier this year as the new garbage and recycling curbside pickup service for about 4,000 households in unincorporated areas surrounding Morgan Hill, San Martin and Gilroy.
GreenWaste has notified people by mail about upcoming changes, and it began distributing new blue recyclable bins and green yard waste bins to customers in November, said Crystal Sanchez, a customer service representative for the company. Garbage pickup days will remain the same as they have in the past, and customers will continue to use the same garbage bins issued by Recology South Valley, said Patty Medina, outreach coordinator for GreenWaste.
Residents who wish to swap out their current garbage bins for larger or smaller ones must contact the company directly, Medina said.
Because Friday is a holiday, GreenWaste will pick up garbage for regular Friday customers on Saturday. Residents can place recycling crates upside down if they wish for them to be removed.
The county’s contract with GreenWaste will provide more garbage-related services than a similar proposal offered by the current contractor, Recology South Valley, which serves about 30,000 households in Santa Clara and San Benito counties.
The new monthly rate for residential weekly garbage pickup for a 32-gallon container, plus twice-a-month collection of recyclable trash, will rise to $24.05 per month. The current price of garbage services is $22.90. An agreement between the county and GreenWaste mandates that the monthly cost cannot rise more than 5 percent per year based on inflation.
For customers who opt to use larger garbage containers, the rate will increase proportionally.
Residents now will have “single-stream” recycling pickup that allows them to mix all their recyclable products into one container, according to GreenWaste staff.
In addition, GreenWaste’s monthly rate includes 12 vouchers per year allowing customers to haul yard waste to a landfill, as well as curbside collection of 96-gallon yard waste containers; two vouchers for curbside “rubbish or bulky goods” pickup; placement of larger items on the curb that can be hauled off two days a year; and annual community cleanup programs to serve 600 households each.
The new contract between the county and the garbage hauler also offers a lower monthly rate for low-income residents, and higher rates for “hard-to-reach” areas.
For more information, contact GreenWaste at 283-4800 or www.greenwaste.com.
