Allied Waste Scaling Back Ballwin Pickup Dates

Trash pickup for select Ballwin residents will be rescheduled starting next month as Allied Waste prepares to implement more automated trash pickup.

Allied Waste no longer will pick up trash on Wednesdays, when about a fifth of residents receive their trash pickup, a representative of Allied Waste told Ballwin council members Monday.

“The hope is that we eventually go to what’s called ‘automation’ here in Ballwin,” said Tony Lamantia, a business development manager with Allied Waste.

(Editor's Note: Ballwin residents can view their current trash and yard waste pickup schedules here.)

Lamantia said that would mean fully automated garbage pickup, where one driver remotely dumps city-issued trash receptacles. Currently, trash pickup in Ballwin requires a driver to park his vehicle then dump the garbage manually.

“You go from our driver being able to pick up anywhere between 500 to 600 homes (in a shift) to the possibility of 900 to 12,000 homes," Lamantia said. "So with this reroute we’re doing right now, that would set us up for this automation."

Lamantia also said yard waste pickup will come the day before trash pickup, with Monday trash pickups being accompanied by yard waste pickup on Fridays.

Allied is prepared to institute use of fully automated trash pickup equipment almost immediately, Lamantia said, but is awaiting word from the City of Ballwin. When approved, residents likely would decide whether they want a 65 gallon or 95-gallon trash receptacle, which would then be used by the automated trucks.

“They are in favor of that,” Lamantia said of Ballwin’s support for automated trash pickup. "It’s a process, though, and they want proper notification for all residents...I’m sure they’re going to decide that very soon.”

Mayor Tim Pogue expressed concern about residents not having enough advance notice of next month's change. Lamantia said that in the past, however, customers have complied with schedule changes without issue.

“If I notify them two weeks ahead of time, that’s more than enough time to let everyone know what we’re doing," Lamantia said.

Lamantia said the new trash pickup schedule should take effect Oct. 6.