Weekly recycling pickup is set to return in Baltimore City. According to the mayor’s office, the Department of Public Works confirmed that weekly recycling services will return the first full week of March. Officials said the resumption is possible thanks to new hires, an upgraded fleet of “load packer” trucks, and optimized pickup routes.
New technology has allowed DPW to reduce the number of stops per crew to 1,800, down from 2,600. The city has ordered 80 new load packers. Of those, 13 have arrived and are undergoing inspection and customization by the Baltimore City Department of General Services.
“Our city of Baltimore has very specific needs with old infrastructure and tight alleys, which means our teams have to do some extensive uplifting and custom modifications to the trucks to get them road ready,” Mayor Brandon Scott said on Wednesday. “Much like the trucks, not all of these new hires are road ready. They have to be trained, they have to learn their routes.”