Dallas has released a map showing when residents can expect their garbage and recycling to be picked up by the city when the sanitation schedule changes Dec. 5.
The city is planning to add Wednesdays to its sanitation collections schedule, increasing pickups to every weekday instead of four days a week. City officials estimate at least 56% of customers will have to set out their trash on new days.
The new schedule is meant to help cut down on delays in pickups, which have been compounded in recent years by worker shortages and severe weather events.
Collections will still occur weekly and the new schedule is not expected to impact when brush and bulk trash are picked up.
It should also help make workloads more manageable, according to city sanitation director Jay Council. Typical work days can stretch to 12 hours and into the weekends to make up for missed pickups due to equipment issues, not having enough staff or weather conditions.
The city provides garbage, recycling and bulk trash services to about 246,000 Dallas homes. The new Monday through Friday plan is expected to bring down the daily household count from around 62,500 to 50,000 homes a day. The average workday for collection workers would be eight hours, Council said.
Council said the new routes were crafted to decrease the amount of traveling drivers have to do to and from the landfill, transfer stations and other sanitation facilities.
Here’s a comparison of the current city map that lays out the days areas are supposed to have trash and recycling picked up with the new map. An interactive version of the map is available on the city’s website.