Consolidated trash collection in PTC will be a huge mistake unless strict requirements are put in place and enforced.

I say this because my family has had problems with trash collection, and we have changed trash companies twice in recent years.

The first one did a decent job for the first 13 years with weekly add-on charges for recycling and yard waste pick-up. Then they decided not to pick up yard trash.

When I signed on with the second company, they told me that they had free recycling and a $2 per bag charge for yard waste. This sounded great until they missed my recycles several weeks.

I was told by customer service that they used the same truck to pick up recyclables as they did the trash but with separate bins that attached to the side of the truck. Our house is at the end of the route and if their recycle bins were full, we would not get our recycles picked up. So much for free pick-up.

I also had trouble with yard waste collection, and on more than one occasion we saw the trash men throwing the recycles or the yard waste in with the regular household trash.

This was reported to the city. A former employee of the first company told me, in confidence, that the mixing of recycles and yard waste with household trash is a common occurrence so that, even though we pay extra for these services, our recycles are not being recycled and our yard trash is not being disposed of properly.

I had no choice but to keep the second company for household trash and to sign on with a new company that specializes only in recycle and yard waste pick-up with separate trucks on separate days. I shouldn’t have to pay extra for this service with the new company but at least I have the peace of mind of knowing it’s done the right way.

Having just solved all these problems, I dread the possibility of the city choosing one trash company that may or may not offer recycle pick-up and may or may not offer yard waste pick-up. How will they know if the recycles and yard waste are being done properly or just dumped in with household trash? There are just too many things that can go wrong.

I don’t want to give up the arrangements that I have finally pieced together just because the city says we can only use one company that will probably do a questionable job.

Cindy Dale

Peachtree City, Ga.

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