Attention, Beaufort residents! Your trash hauler is changing. Here are 7 things to know
After 12 years, garbage haulers are changing in Beaufort. Make a note. It will change your weekly routine, and you’ll pay more.
On June 8, the City Council OK’d a new five-year contract with Columbia-based Capital Waste Services, which has an office in Ridgeland.
Capital Waste Services is replacing Waste Pro of Hardeeville, which had held the contracts with the city since 2009.
Here are seven things to know about the change in residential and commercial garbage collection:
When will the switch be made?
July 1.
Over the course of the week of June 21, Capital Waste will deliver 9,000 new garbage and recycling cans to 4,500 residential customers. But residents will not begin using those cans until July 1, said Linda Roper, director of Downtown Operations and Community Services.
For a day or two, residents might have cans from both companies, but don’t worry about it, Roper says.
“They just need to be patient,” Roper said.
Leave your Waste Pro bins by the curb until Waste Pro picks them up, even if it is a day or two after your final service.
Will my pickup day change?
Not for garbage and yard waste, but there’s a change planned for recycling.
Going forward, Capital Waste, the new hauler, will pick up garbage and recyclables on the same day. They currently are collected on different days. Recyclables still will be picked up every other week.
What do I do in the transition?
Through June 30, put out recycling and trash as you would normally. If your recycling pickup day is on Tuesday, June 22, make sure you put your recycling out on that day. Waste Pro will pick up your recycling. A second truck is scheduled to pick up empty recycling bins.
If your trash pickup day is Thursday or Friday, put the trash in the Waste Pro bin. After it is emptied, Waste Pro will send a truck to pick up the empty container. The same will happen to homes that have service Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Do not use Capital Waste Services bins for trash until July 1, because Waste Pro will not empty them.
If you still use a City of Beaufort garbage bin, leave those out as well after your last June use. Capital Waste Services will pick them up after July 1.
For commercial customers, if you have a dumpster, that will stay. If you have a bin, Waste Pro should pick up the old ones on or before June 30, and Capital Waste will deliver new ones before July 1.
Will garbage rates go up?
Monthly garbage bills are expected to increase from $16.94 to $20 a month.
The City Council will vote on the rate increase at its June 22 meeting.
Commercial customers pay based on volume and number of pickups. Their increase will be comparable to the increase residential customers will see, Roper said.
Why are rates going up?
The city hasn’t increased garbage rates since 2014, Roper said, and the cost of doing business has gone up.
Why is the city changing haulers?
The city has procurement guidelines that call for seeking bids for services every five years. Waste Pro’s contract expired last July, but the city extended it due to COVID-19, Roper said.
Bids were received from four haulers.
When the City Council OK’d the contract with Capital Waste earlier this month, the company was described by city staff as a “robust and growing business” with electronic route mapping and video data recording system capabilities.
Under the new contract, the city will pay Capital Waste $17.70 a month per residential customer to pick up the trash and other items.
Who do I call with questions?
If your garbage isn’t picked up or a bin hasn’t been removed from the curb after a few days, call one of these numbers: Before July 1, Waste Pro at 843-645-4100 and after July 1, Capital Waste Services at 843-757-2722.
This story was originally published June 21, 2021 at 4:45 AM.
