Recycling toters in the street

Should our recycling co be leaving toters in the street after pickup? That is what they are doing. They become obstacles for cars, making it difficult to park on the streets, sometimes blocks ingress/egress of driveways, and difficult for cars to pass simultaneously in both directions. It's like leaf piles year round.

The workers tell me it's too burdensome to replace the "heavy" empty toters back on the curbs from which they came, but what does their contract dictate: replacement to the curb or left as obstacles in the street?

seems like if they can lift them when full, they should be less "heavy" when empty, no? that said, at least mine were left upright this morning...

I've seen the recycle collectors THROW the receptacles from the back of the truck in the middle of the street back to "where" they found them. Most never make it back to where they were found, most are tipped over, broken from throwing and laying in the gutters or worse. I've seen them throw my next door neighbors receptacles too far, into my yard, and not bother to put them where they belong. Of course, I call the company every single time. And what has changed, anything?

Sometimes it almost seems like they go out of their way to leave the toter blocking the driveway, so that someone has to get out of the car and move it to get back in the driveway....

susan1014 said:

Sometimes it almost seems like they go out of their way to leave the toter blocking the driveway, so that someone has to get out of the car and move it to get back in the driveway....

I have had this happen on more than one occasion. It's especially frustrating when I have to go left into my driveway and it's blocked. I had to once leave my kids in the car run across the busy street to move the toter so I could pull into the driveway. For some reason, my driveway screams.. BLOCK ME. My neighbors landscaper often blocks half my driveway with the ramp from their truck.

We put out our materials for recycling in paper bags which the recycling company takes along with their contents. This avoids the problem of having empty containers tossed about.

I have not had a single problem.

This is in South Orange where we need to use TOTERS, and today it was an issue all thru SO. it seemed like they were purposely left in the street, on ridgewood at the curve to Walton it was kind of dangerous.

In the street everywhere. I do wish we could help these workers though. They should not have to be lifting those heavy containers by hand. It's in our contract and yet, no one seems to be willing to enforce it. It's not right. These men are going to get seriously hurt with very little recourse.

Sorry for the plethora of adjectives. This may have been the first time I witnessed Giordano picking up. I was dismayed that the required lifter was not on the truck i saw. These men need to work, so they are not going to complain but can you really blame them for not caring?

This makes me very upset but I am not sure what I can do about it. Obviously, South Orange doesn't care...

I'm not sure what you mean, ML. We are supposed to keep the metal rod side closest to the street so the otter can be lifted by the truck. I very rarely see this happen. Most often the guys pick them up no matter which way they are placed. I think it's more time consuming to have the truck lift them.

Not otter, TOTER. autocorrect.

Trustee Levinson said last year that because the volume of recycling was more than the contractor had anticipated, it did not have enough trucks with mechanical liftesr for all routes. This problem was supposed to have been corrected this year.

A couple of months ago when people posted that their toters were being lifted manually, Howard said that this was due to the bad weather and some of contractor's trucks were out of service.

It now seems that the toters are being manually lifted on some routes. Last year I know that my toters were being lifted manually. I don't know whether they're still being lifted manually. We were told that we had to use toters. They're expensive. I purchased a second one. I do see quite a few houses that don't use toters.

Why have toters if you don't have the machines to lift them?

@shh see @cramer's response.

@sac Good point. But the contract with the Village specifically required mechanical lifters, and because of that, it was required that we use the toters. This has been mentioned before--in another thread, but it would certainly be easier for many people if the toters were not necessary.

But in reconsideration of my post, I want to add that it would be worse for these guys if they didn't get seriously hurt but just got a little hurt, bit by bit. That way it's almost impossible to prove how you were injured.

sac said:

Why have toters if you don't have the machines to lift them?

Because South Orange residents were told that we had to use toters. It certainly would have been cheaper for me (and other residents) to use a trash container with my toter, as I had been doing.

Actually, the toters are required for aesthetics. We didn't want people throwing garbage bags full of recycling at the curb. This is the same reason we have rear-yard garbage collection - aesthetics.

Michael - We had this conversation last year. When the Village was picking up newspapers, it used mechanical lifters with the toters. Now that Giordano is lifting the toters manually, they're more likely to get damaged, and they're expensive. Posters have already said that their toters are being damaged.

Why have a provision in the contract if it's not being adhered to? Last year you weren't sure whether the contractor was required to have mechanical lifters. The RFP specifically stated that mechanical lifters were required.

Should aesthetics trump the health and welfare of the workers who are now manually lifting the heavy toters due either to lack of sufficient lifting equipment or an attempt to finish routes in a timely fashion? How are aesthetics being improved when toters are being thrown all over the place by the recycling collectors?

Let's be honest here. They're not THAT heavy. I am a very small woman and I am able to roll it to the curb and if I tried hard I could lift it when full. The damage is occurring when they're thrown to the ground. I'm sure when the sanitation guys were hired part of the job requirement was that they are able to lift a certain amount of weight. Of course I wouldn't want to see anyone get injured, but lifting heavy toters, being in the cold, etc, is part of the job.

FilmCarp said:

I have not had a single problem.

Me neither. They always place it back on the berm.

We normally have no problem. Today I did notice toters tossed every which way blocking the street

shh said:

Let's be honest here. They're not THAT heavy. I am a very small woman and I am able to roll it to the curb and if I tried hard I could lift it when full. The damage is occurring when they're thrown to the ground. I'm sure when the sanitation guys were hired part of the job requirement was that they are able to lift a certain amount of weight. Of course I wouldn't want to see anyone get injured, but lifting heavy toters, being in the cold, etc, is part of the job.

Depends on what's in them, doesn't it? Fill them with paper and then try it.

shh said:

Let's be honest here. They're not THAT heavy. I am a very small woman and I am able to roll it to the curb and if I tried hard I could lift it when full. The damage is occurring when they're thrown to the ground. I'm sure when the sanitation guys were hired part of the job requirement was that they are able to lift a certain amount of weight. Of course I wouldn't want to see anyone get injured, but lifting heavy toters, being in the cold, etc, is part of the job.

They ARE that heavy. I don't think you could lift it... I am sure I couldn't, nor would I want to. Maybe if you only had plastic water bottles and aluminum cans, but what about one full of newspapers or bottles? Would you be so cavalier about the weight then?

Good point, I'm guessing weight varies. Ours are usually filled with cardboard, cans and bottles. But still, I'd expect the guys would have to be able to lift a certain amount as part of the job requirements. I'm not saying it's easy, but that's what the job entails.

The guys who picked up our stuff today manually lifted the toters, so I don't know what the story is on their equipment.

Do my S.O. neighbors have to use a specific recycling bin?

Just wondering here in Maplewood.

TomR

Tom_R said:

Do my S.O. neighbors have to use a specific recycling bin?

Just wondering here in Maplewood.

TomR

Yes, we have to use a "toter" (http://www.toter.com). If buying it new, it has to be the brand name one, although if we already own one, we don't have to buy a new one. One can order them through the South Orange DPW... Not sure of the specifics--because I can't find it although I know I've seen it...

shh said:

I We are supposed to keep the metal rod side closest to the street so the otter can be lifted by the truck.

Holy cats, I never knew this! Yikes, I think I've been placing the toter the other way

I think that's only for the trucks with a side arm.

marylago,

How would the recycling crew(s) keep track of which home had old bins as opposed to the new approved bins?

TomR