If you're a city resident who thought you might get totes for your garbage and recycling starting June 1, you will be very disappointed to learn that none of the haulers planning trash service for Batavia will offer totes.
Not even Waste Management, one of the largest refuse collection companies in the nation, will offer totes in Batavia.
Genesee ARC, who had the contract with the city for garbage collection for 28 years, will offer the same bag and can service the agency has always offered.
Jeff Gardner, starting up Gardner Disposal, will pick up bags and cans, and PSI, based in Alabama, will pick up bags and cans.
Or you can drop off your own bags at Scofield's transfer station in Stafford or the Town of Batavia's transfer station.
But a tote that you can wheel to the curb? Forget about it.
Waste Management will charge $24 a month for up to a dozen 30-gallon bags. The quarterly rate, with fees and fuel charges, will come to $92 to $95.
Genesee ARC will charge $21.95 a month for curbside pick up of cans and bags, or you can buy 10 bags at a time for $30, or ARC will offer a drop-off service at the West Main site is 10 cents per pound.
The new kid on the block, Gardner Disposal, will be locally owned and operated and at least to start. The new owner, Jeff Gardner, will also be the garbage man picking up the trash.
He plans to charge $20 a month for up to seven 13-gallon bags or up to five 30-gallon bags. (Gardner offers more information on his Web site.)
PSI is $25.50 per month for six bags a week.
All services will offer free recycling pick up, but again, no totes.
As for bulk items, prices will vary and picks must be scheduled with your contracted hauler.
Here's a list of companies and phone numbers offering service to Batavia residents
Gardner Disposal: (585) 343-4626
Genesee ARC: (585) 343-1123 or 585-343-4203
PSI Disposal, Inc.: (585) 599-3255
Waste Management, Inc.: (800) 333-6590
Transfer stations to drop off refuse, recycling and bulk items:
Scofield Transfer and Recycling: (585) 343-7373
Town of Batavia Transfer Station: (585) 343-1729
I spoke with everyone, and
I spoke with everyone, and right now it's either ARC or Gardner! Very disappointed in WM actually.
Just waiting on seeing ARC's detailed letter before the wife and I make a final decision, but it looks like the those two are figuring it out! Good on them!!!!
I believe it should say Waste
I believe it should say Waste Management is $24 a month not a week. I have had them for many years and service has always been good. They take large items like old doors and old carpet without giving them any notice.
You could, also go over to
You could, also go over to the home and garden store of your choice and purchase a nice plastic garbage container on wheels with a lid for 25 - 30 bucks and wheel that to your curb.
I posted something similar on
I posted something similar on Facebook Dave!
Great minds think alike!
Great minds think alike! Amanda
Thank God no totes
Thank God no totes
Dave, Amanda, Good luck
Dave, Amanda, Good luck finding one of the companies willing to manually lift heavy totes into trucks. The tote system relies on automated pick up. A full tote is pretty damn heavy -- much heavier than a standard trash can -- when full.
Deb, the point of a free-choice system is that people who want totes and have totes, and those that don't want them don't have to have them. Are you saying that your dislike for totes means that nobody should have totes?
Howard, I use a 45 gallon
Howard, I use a 45 gallon wheeled tote now. I put my garbage bags in it, not crammed full and wheel it to the end of my driveway and they pick it up every time. Just about everybody around here does the same thing. I live in the country and there are lots of hungry critters around, so you really have to have a covered container. So, I'm not buying it. You do, however need to use common sense and have a little empathy for you fellow human being who is doing the job of trashman (or woman) and not jump up and down on top of your trash bags.
Waste management trucks have
Waste management trucks have lift arms on them for the large totes. I have the large totes as everyone around me does also. I would think they are not offering totes due to cost. Can people within the city purchase totes from their new provider?
With the old system there was
With the old system there was a limit to the size of the cans/totes you could use. I went all out one day and bought a nice big tote on wheels and Home Depot only to have a note placed on it the next garbage day that it was too big. What a disappointment that was. I do understand why though. It was probably pretty heavy.
I'm not saying to buy
I'm not saying to buy something that's gigantic but we have 2 Garbage cans (not sure what size, but they hold 2-3 bags easily) with lids, on wheels that we've used without any difficulty since moving to our current home in the city 4 years ago. So if the concern for folks is wanting the ease of a can on wheels there are options out there!
Choice is always good. I am
Choice is always good. I am glad to see the dialogue here. People sharing information with one another in order to make more informed decisions. I am of the opinion that if we are capable of deciphering the tax code and filing our own income tax returns, then we are probably capable of figuring out how to dispose of our pizza boxes and tuna fish cans.
Jack, Waste Management will
Jack, Waste Management will not be offering that service in the City of Batavia. They are offering to manually pick up garbage cans and bags, just like the other local vendors.
Yes, I could get a 45 gallon tote, and maybe for trash that would work, if they will pick it up.
What I've seen of the smaller totes/wheeled garbage cans at Home Depot, they're pretty flimsy. I doubt they would last long in these conditions, and not being the heavy plastic of the totes that are offered with automated trash collection trucks, would blow over just as easy as cans.
The main issue for me is I'm tired of hauling three and four recycling bins to the curb. I want one tote, which means one that's at least 95lbs, and while the contents won't be that heavy, I don't see the available vendors being willing to deal with those.
The whole point of the tote system is to eliminate the number of necessary containers, and that means heft and size.