Bellevue residents will have more flexibility in trash and recycling choices under a contract the City Council recently approved.

A 10-year contract was awarded to Papillion Sanitation that will expand citywide certain elements of a pilot program that was tested in two neighborhoods. The contract begins in May 2018.

Papillion Sanitation currently provides the city’s trash service, but residents will see a number of changes.

Currently, residents provide their own trash containers.

Under the new contract, residents will be provided containers, with options for a 35-, 65- and 95-gallon cart, each size having a different cost. Residents also can choose to have separate carts for recycling and yard waste and will be provided with Hefty Energy Bags. Residents can use the bags to recycle items that can’t go in the regular recycling cart, such as plastic chip bags.

Residents will not have to buy the carts, and carts that are damaged or broken will be replaced, said Epiphany Ramos, wastewater operations manager for the city.

The recycling will be picked up weekly, and there will be two curbside collection pickup dates per year of bulky items.

Costs have not been finalized so the city does not yet have a monthly price for residents, Ramos said. That is expected to come later this year.

Now that everyone will have carts, Papillion Sanitation will have trucks with automatic pickup arms. Workers won’t have to hop off the truck and grab trash cans, which should make for more efficient pickup, Ramos said.

Ramos said the city used to operate on a one-size-fits-all trash program. Now residents will be able to adjust cart size and cost based on their needs.

To read the full story, visit http://www.omaha.com/news/metro/bellevue-trash-recycling-contract-will-give-residents-more-choices/article_660a2856-b017-5be2-97de-d5ffc732f0db.html.

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