BILLINGS — The city of Billings solid waste division is making changes to the city’s trash pick up schedule.
The largest of these changes is changing the frequency at which their residential “extras” collection program will be completed.
Currently the program is once a week but beginning Sept. 6 the frequency will change to once per month.
“It’s the extra trash bags and boxes and normal household garbage that doesn’t fit in your black cart or your black bin in the alley behind your house. Currently we’re doing that weekly and starting next week we’re moving that to a monthly collection schedule,” said Kyle Foreman, the solid waste superintendent for the city of Billings.
The schedule will be as follows: If your trash pickup day is on Monday, then the extra day will be the first week of the month, if its Tuesday, it will be the second week of the month, if its Wednesday, extra day will be the third week of the month, and if your trash day is on Thursday, extras day will be on the fourth week of the month.
The changes are coming in part because the solid waste department is understaffed, and they cannot keep up with the weekly pickups.
Foreman also says that they will pick up large pieces of trash such as old furniture on the extra day, but they ask that you call ahead of time to let them know.
Foreman has also noticed plenty of loose trash and asks that everyone bag their trash to help make the city a cleaner place.
“If you throw away trash, whether it’s in your 300-gallon bin that’s in the alley or in your black cart that you put curbside bag it. Bag it for a couple reasons, if you don’t bag it on a windy day it could potentially end up in your neighbors’ yard when we come and collect it or if you don’t bag it then on that same windy day it could end up on our neighbor’s property once it gets to the landfill. So, I ask that you just bag all your stuff before you put it out,” said Foreman.
Foreman also mentioned that all trash needs to be out by 6 a.m. the morning of pickup.
For more details on the changes you can visit the city of Billings website.
