City of Wheaton Begins New Garbage Collection Service

Wheaton, IL—As of October 1, 2016 the City of Wheaton has implemented a new garbage collection service. The contract was approved unanimously at a July 5, 2016 Wheaton City Council Meeting. It was during this meeting that the specifics of the new garbage service were discussed.

Under the new service, courtesy of LakeShore Recycling Systems—residents of Wheaton, Illinois will no longer have to purchase stickers to be placed on their garbage bins, every week. Instead, LakeShore will charge residents using a new technology.

Called Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), residential garbage and recycling bins that Wheaton residents are supplied with will be equipped with RFID chips.

The chips, synced with technology on the LakeShore Recyling Systems garbage trucks, will issue a tipping charge—a charge for every time a garbage or recycling bin is tipped into a LakeShore truck—through an electronic billing account similar to the IPASS system, according to Managing Partner of LakeShore Recycling Systems, Joshua Connell.

The sizes currently available for garbage and recycling bins are: 35, gallons, 65 gallons, and 95 gallons with the cost per pickup varying depending on the size and type of bin.

Currently, residents will be charged: $1.43 for a 35-gallon garbage bin pickup, $2.86 for 65 gallons and $4.29 for 95 gallons.

For excess conventional garbage and yard waste, residents will be charged 2.75 per pickup. Residents will also see a charge for bulk items at $13.75 per pickup and will also be charged for white goods pickup—refrigerators, water heaters, etc.—at $27.50 per pickup.

For recycling bin pickups, residents will be charged: $1.17 for a 35-gallon as well as a 65-gallon pickup, and a $1.12 for a 95-gallon pickup.

Previously there was no charge for recyclables. However, Special Projects Assistant, Thomas Shubert explained to the council, at the July 5 meeting:

“Right now, we know, that a lot of residents set out their big, 65 gallon cart every week. […] But it may be half full and it may be a quarter full. We don’t think that’s very efficient. So, we think that residents will be a little bit more likely to wait till their cart is full or almost full to set it out. […] We also believe that charging residents directly for recyclables will give them less incentive to contaminate [the recycling stream].”

Jason Youngberg, a Wheaton resident, raised concern at the city council meeting on July 5, that if the RFID technology malfunctioned, residents could potentially face faulty charges.

In response, Managing Partner from LakeShore Recycling Systems, Joshua Connell, said: “[…] If a resident called and it [the RFID technology] was just wrong, we’re gonna give residents the benefit of the doubt and track it [the technology] too.”

At the August 1 city council meeting, the five-year contract with LakeShore Recyling Systems was approved.