Fulton solid waste schedule changes take effect

Changes to Fulton's municipal recycling and yard waste pickup schedule went into effect Monday.

From now on, yard waste and recycling will be picked up on an alternating schedule: yard waste one week and recycling the next. Collection days aren't changing, however.

The schedule starts with recycling this week, with yard waste collection beginning next week.

All municipal solid waste customers should have received a solid waste calendar with their latest utility bill. Anyone who didn't - or who wants extras - can download and print a calendar at tinyurl.com/y5tubsf2. The calendar also lists city holidays, spring and fall cleanup dates, and household hazardous waste and e-waste collection dates.

Spring cleanup is scheduled for April 12-16 this year, and fall cleanup is Oct. 11-15. During those weeks, Fulton residential customers may set out bulky items and excess trash on their normal waste collection day without scheduling a special pickup.

Household hazardous waste and e-waste collection days take place on the second Saturday of the month from April to October. That's also a change from the two days per month of previous years - the Fulton City Council voted to cut back to a single HHW/e-waste collection day per month to save on staffing costs.

On the designated Saturdays, Callaway County residents may drop off waste such as small appliances and paint at the collection center behind the Tennyson Road fire station.

Other cost-saving measures approved last year won't kick in just yet.

In October, the City Council passed a motion requiring all residential curbside recycling participants to rent a recycling bin from the city. Additionally, the rate to rent a rolling bin will increase from $1 to $2 per month. However, those requirements are being delayed until the city can provide recycling bins to everyone on its waiting list, and that hasn't happened yet.

On a recent public Facebook post by the city of Fulton about the schedule change, one Fulton resident said she requested a recycling bin over a year ago and hasn't yet received it.

"We've had them ordered for almost a year," Fulton Mayor Lowe Cannell responded. "Due to COVID, the (manufacturing) for them has been severely delayed. They are saying that they are coming soon."

Each bin costs the city $56 to purchase. At the new rate, each bin will pay for itself after about two years and four months of use.

Fulton's solid waste department can be reached at 573-592-3176.