As the City of San Diego grapples with a shake-up in trash service coverage, residents are reminded that the clock is ticking when setting up their accounts. Following the end of a long-standing free trash pickup practice for single-family homes and some multi-residences, city officials are urging locals to choose their trash and recycling services before the end of September.
After the passage of Measure B last year, various properties lost eligibility for city services, and the remaining eligible must now register their preferences online. According to CBS 8 San Diego, San Diego residents have until September 30 to pick their bin size and service level, with bin deliveries starting on October 6. Many, however, remain in limbo; the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that as of their latest coverage, less than half of the roughly 20,000 newly ineligible properties have secured new service from private haulers.
The transition has been anything but smooth, with many residents facing rejections or high quotes from overwhelmed private haulers. In response, Mayor Todd Gloria authorized a rule change exempting haulers from penalties for low recycling rates if they engage in more customer education on recycling. Jeremy Bauer, assistant director of the city’s Environmental Services Department, told The San Diego Union-Tribune, "We haven’t wanted to create a situation where these haulers are penalized for taking on these customers."
For those still eligible for city service, a failure to register online by the deadline means automatically receiving the largest and most expensive bins. Of the 225,000 eligible residences, about 170,000 had not signed up with just weeks left before the deadline. "Even if you want the default size, it's important to sign up to unlock those benefits," Bauer emphasized, per CBS 8 San Diego.
