New waste disposal services starting for Clovis consumers

Waste disposal company Republic Services will offer new recycling services for residential and commercial customers in Clovis as part of a new 10-year contract with the city.

While the city was already contracted with Republic Services, the new, almost $2.7 million contract is 5% lower than the previous contract, said Clovis public utilities manager Eric Zetz.

Two specialty disposal services for residents will be added startingSaturday: Disposal of medical sharps such as syringes, plus pickup of batteries and cell phones.

Residents may call Republic Services’ local office at (559) 275-1551 to have a free sharps container delivered to their home once a year, which is to be sealed and mailed in a provided package once it is full, said Republic Services general manager Keith Hester. Additional containers can be purchased from Republic Services for about $40, he said.

Batteries and cell phones can be sealed in separate plastic bags and placed on top of the blue disposal container on collection days for the drivers to pick up, he said.

Pickup has also been expanded to include the styrofoam polystyrene, said Clovis assistant public utilities director Scott Redelfs. Polystyrene is used as protective packaging for items such as electronics, said Republic Services spokesman Kyle Loreto.

Clovis residents can bring their own containers to annual compost giveaways that Republic Services will now be offering and collect up to 3 cubic yards of free compost. The first is scheduled for Oct. 17 at the Clovis Botanical Garden.

Republic Services will also set up a free website that’s styled after garage sales, where users can post items they want to sell, trade or giveaway, Hester said. It will be like a Craigslist for Clovis, he said.

Republic Services will also offer an organic waste collection program to all commercial customers in Clovis within the next two months. Restaurants and other businesses have been contacted about sending their waste to a compost pile rather than a landfill, and a pickup route now needs to be devised, said Hester.

Partly, this is to prepare the city for California’s new legislation requiring those who produce 8 cubic yards or more of food waste per week to have a disposal program in place. While the law doesn’t go into effect until 2016, Republic Services wants to have the city ready before then, he said.

“It’s a great deal for the citizens and the businesses of the city of Clovis,” said Hester on the new services. “It’s going to be kind of cutting edge.”

Rates for consumers will not increase because of these added services, said Redelfs, and have instead decreased by about 3% overall under the new contract.

With the new contract, residential customers will be charged an average $4.60 for the green container and $3.30 for the blue container per month, said Loreto.

This story was originally published July 31, 2015 at 5:54 PM with the headline "New waste disposal services starting for Clovis consumers."