Big, blue trucks will roll on city streets starting April 1, when Republic Services starts picking up curbside trash, recycling, and yard waste for the City of Battle Creek.
Waste Management has provided these services since the 1980s. The current contract expires at the end of March, and the city sought service proposals in the fall of 2020. After following that process, Republic offered the lowest cost to meet the city’s needs; we have more than 16,000 neighbors receiving curbside service.
Services will be mostly the same, with one change to recycling – if you want to continue curbside recycling in the city, you must opt in, telling Republic you want to recycling. There are three ways to do this, and you will receive a recycling cart from Republic at no extra cost:
- Fill out a short web form (our preferred way), which asks for your name, address, and contact information. Find it at www.battlecreekmi.gov/recycling.
- Call Republic at 269-216-8008 – the message will prompt you to give your name, address, phone number, and email address
- Email Republic at BCrecycles@republicservices.com, with your name, address, phone number, and email address
All of these methods also allow you to request rental trash and yard waste carts from Republic. These are available at a cost of $39 per year for the first cart, and $30 apiece per year for each additional cart.
Waste Management will pick up the current carts, and Republic will deliver the new ones in a way to ensures no interruption to your service. We don’t have the details of that yet, but will share as we know more.
Other services you can expect from Republic:
- Weekly, unlimited curbside trash pickup. You may use your own containers, or rent a trash cart from Republic.
- Weekly, unlimited curbside bulk waste pickup. You must bag mattresses and box springs. No commercial, construction, or tire waste.
- Weekly, unlimited curbside yard waste pickup from April to December. You may use your own containers and/or paper yard waste bags, or rent a yard waste cart from Republic.
- Every-other-week curbside recycling
- Backyard service option, at an additional cost
- Spring and fall cleanup collections, allowing curbside pickup of residential construction waste
- Live/fresh holiday tree pickup after Christmas
You will continue to pay for these services on your utility bill in the city. Regular curbside service will cost $19.67 per month for the first year, with increases scheduled each year of the contract. This is typical for our waste hauling contracts. City customers pay $19 per month right now; both service proposals we received for the new contract showed cost increases.
Republic is working now to determine the best routes to follow, for the best service for city customers. They will also determine recycling routes, once we know which neighbors wish to opt into that service.
As they develop the routes, it is possible your trash and recycling pick-up days will change, and it is possible your trash and recycling will be collected on different days. Please stay tuned; we will share more information, calendars, and maps once this information is finalized.
You can find more information, including frequently asked questions, at www.battlecreekmi.gov/recycling. Or call Patty Hoch-Melluish, the city’s environmental and storm service manager, at 269-966-3355 ext. 1878.
This month’s city program on AccessVision (now called Battle Creek Speaks) is all about the transition to Republic. Watch at 6 p.m. Wednesdays in January on channels 17/917, or watch online at accessvision.tv.
We will hold a live Q&A session on Facebook Live at 5 p.m. this Thursday, Jan. 21. Join us at facebook.com/cerealcitymichigan.
You can find more information about Republic at www.republicservices.com.