Automated Trash and Recycling to Begin Next Month in Hamden

The town is instituting a new trash removal system in the hopes of getting more residents to recycle.

Beginning next week, delivery starts of the new automated trash bins that residents will be required to use for both trash and recycling. Only the new bins will be picked up starting Jan. 20.

Cascade Cart Systems is providing the bins, which will have chips in them that can be scanned by refuse personnel to log that the residents have place recyclables out for removal. Those not putting out items to be recycled can be fined under the system.

The bins now used will no longer be accepted and can be disposed of at the town's Transfer Station or put out for the next bulk pickup in April.

Delivery of the carts will begin on Dec. 9 and continue through Jan. 19, according to Mayor Scott Jackson's office. On Jan. 20, pickup of the new bins will begin, and only those bins will be collected. With delivery of the bins will be detailed instructions on how to use them, according to the mayor's office.

The new bins are 96 gallons, compared to the 18-gallon containers now used. Each residence will get two — a blue one for trash and a green one for recyclables.

“By recycling more and transitioning to automated and semi-automated pick-up, we reduce our overall trash costs and can invest those savings in other areas of need,” Jackson said. 

For more information about the new system, contact Pamela Roach at proach@hamden.com or 203-287-7021.