June 19, 2006 – (Charlotte, NC) – Last week’s storms left many Charlotte residents with yard debris originally estimated to be too large for Solid Waste Services yard waste crews to collect. An assessment of the affected areas; however, led Solid Waste Services to decide to collect the debris with City crews instead of hiring contractors.

“Most of the storm debris was located in section of East Charlotte, in the areas between Providence and Monroe Roads,” said Solid Waste Services Key Business Executive Wayman J. Pearson.  “Our crews were out Saturday and have already collected approximately 50 percent of the debris at the curb.  While some of the debris was oversized, most met our yard waste guidelines.”

Pearson said City crews will continue to collect debris in the identified area this week and they will be flexible when deciding to what to collect.  He said using City crews is more efficient and cost-effective.

Residents are asked to bring all storm debris to the curb for collection on their scheduled collection day.  Solid Waste Services will collect the debris as a part of their CURB IT! yard waste collection program.  To ensure collection residents are asked to prepare material according to the following preparation guidelines:

-        Cut limbs to 5’ long and  4” in diameter.

-        Separate limbs into piles small enough for one individual to handle.  Piles should be no more than 75 lbs and no more than 4 ft. high or 5 ft. long. 

-        Place leaves and grass clippings in untied plastic bags or uncovered trashcans.  This helps expedite the collection process and allows crews to verify that the yard waste is not contaminated with non-yard waste material.  Bags do not have to be clear, but must be untied.

City crews cannot collect:

§         Tree stumps, limbs or logs larger than 4 in. in diameter or 5 ft. in length. 

§         Limbs and other yard waste resulting from commercial tree service. Material resulting from commercial contractor should be removed by the contractor.

For more information about yard waste, garbage, bulky item and recyclables collection, click: http://curbit.charmeck.org or call 311.

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