Bangor will make the switch to automated trash pickup later this month, and each Bangor household that receives curbside pickup will receive a new trash bin in the next two weeks.
Following a move to “one bin, all in” trash pickup, with recyclable items being mixed in with the non-recyclable, Bangor last year also opted to use an automated side-load garbage truck.
The new trucks will begin service on Monday, June 29.
Bangor households will each receive a 96-gallon wheeled, lidded trash bin starting the week of June 15. The bins can hold up to 250 pounds of trash, and they will come with instructions on how residents should place them outside of their homes.
Any trash left outside the bin will not be picked up, and the lids must remain closed. If a household needs to purchase an additional bin or would like to switch to a smaller bin, they can contact the Bangor Public Works department at 207-992-4500 or public.works@bangormaine.gov.
The Bangor City Council last year approved a new waste collection contract, in which residents mix their recycling and trash, so that it can be separated at a new waste facility in Hampden run by Coastal Resources of Maine. The new waste trucks will use a robotic arm to pick up the trash bins and lift them overhead in order to empty their contents.
The contract will save the city an estimated $172,101 over five years by removing the labor that’s required for workers to manually empty barrels of waste into the backs of trucks.
