Recycling Changes Effective January 1, 2023

Maplewood DPW Launches Recycling Hotline

Post Date: 01/11/2023 12:11 PM

In response to resident questions and concerns regarding changes to Maplewood's recycling services, the Department of Public Works has launched a new Recycling hotline.

Any residents with recycling concerns should call (973) 762-8120 x3300 and leave a message. All messages are automatically forwarded via email to DPW Administration, who will be checking them and responding throughout the day.

For more information about recycling in Maplewood, please visit our webpage.

Click here for more information

Was just returning to this thread to post the same information so thanks yahooyahoo!
Also happy to see this was in the form of an email from the Township of Maplewood and not some random post on a private or non Government Facebook group. I hope any Township Committee members who serve on the Public Works committee supports this initiative if in fact they may have suggested it. 

In any event kudos to the Town for setting up this hotline.

I also came here for that purpose.  Great minds think alike I guess!

My pickup was missed this week on Monday, even though I had only legal commingled items out and the truck did pick up on my block.  I had been trying to call both Basso and the town and gotten nowhere, although I finally called the DPW number and got a "live person" who was very helpful to me.  But it's good to have a formal mechanism to get concerns dealt with and I hope it will be successful. 

(I have now observed that it is very difficult to get a "live person" on ANY phone numbers for the town.  This is probably understandable but can be frustrating if you have left messages without any response and aren't completely sure if you called the correct person or department in the first place.)

Just got a text from Maplewood (http://nixle.us/E7LPP) that zones 1 & 2 will be picked up tomorrow, despite the site saying this:

What if my pickup day falls on a holiday? Snow day?
If your pickup day falls on a major holiday, then pickup will be made on the next non-holiday pickup day. For instance, in Maplewood, if your pickup day is Monday, MLK Day pickup would be the Tuesday after MLK Day.

Again we have a complete mix-up in comms on this.

ridski said:

Just got a text from Maplewood (http://nixle.us/E7LPP) that zones 1 & 2 will be picked up tomorrow, despite the site saying this:

What if my pickup day falls on a holiday? Snow day?
If your pickup day falls on a major holiday, then pickup will be made on the next non-holiday pickup day. For instance, in Maplewood, if your pickup day is Monday, MLK Day pickup would be the Tuesday after MLK Day.

Again we have a complete mix-up in comms on this.

That Nixle alert was followed by another one:

"This is an update of a previous message

Alert: Contrary to the original message, recycling will not be collected on Monday January 16th in observance of MLK Day.

Dear Nixle User,

Contrary to the original message, recycling will not be collected on Monday January 16th in observance of MLK Day. Zone 1 and 2 will be collected on Tuesday January 17th.

Instructions:

Do not place recycling outside on Monday January 16th."

Isn’t it saying the same thing though? 
If your pick up day is Monday (holiday) then your recycling will be picked up the next day (Tuesday) 

I honestly don’t see what is so confusing. Am I missing something?

Jaytee said:

Isn’t it saying the same thing though? 
If your pick up day is Monday (holiday) then your recycling will be picked up the next day (Tuesday) 

I honestly don’t see what is so confusing. Am I missing something?

The first message said that it WOULD be picked up.  Ours was already on the curb when we got the second message. We just left it out there. 

Let's hope they don't miss too many homes tomorrow, which often happens when the Monday folks get shifted to Tuesday along with the regular Tuesday areas.

Most confusing is the latest message which says if the recycling is not picked up today, it will be picked up tomorrow.  I am leaving mine out just in case.

First post by Ridski 

What if my pickup day falls on a holiday? Snow day?
If your pickup day falls on a major holiday, then pickup will be made on the next non-holiday pickup day. For instance, in Maplewood, if your pickup day is Monday, MLK Day pickup would be the Tuesday after MLK Day

From Joan

Dear Nixle User,

Contrary to the original message, recycling will not be collected on Monday January 16th in observance of MLK Day. Zone 1 and 2 will be collected on Tuesday January 17th.

Isn’t the original message that Ridski got saying the same thing as the second message Joan got? 
 
why is this confusing? I think the only confusion may be that the trucks will miss the zone 1+2 on the tuesdays following a Monday holiday.

Jaytee said:

First post by Ridski

What if my pickup day falls on a holiday? Snow day?
If your pickup day falls on a major holiday, then pickup will be made on the next non-holiday pickup day. For instance, in Maplewood, if your pickup day is Monday, MLK Day pickup would be the Tuesday after MLK Day

… Isn’t the original message that Ridski got saying the same thing as the second message Joan got?

That’s not the message that ridski got. That’s ridski noting what the website says under its FAQs.

The message that ridski (and other Nixle users) got said pickup would be on Monday despite the holiday.

ridski said:

Just got a text from Maplewood (http://nixle.us/E7LPP) that zones 1 & 2 will be picked up tomorrow …

Despite several announcements to the contrary, they DID pick up our recycling today. From now on, we plan to put it out on Monday regardless of possible holiday reschedules.

sac said:

Despite several announcements to the contrary, they DID pick up our recycling today. From now on, we plan to put it out on Monday regardless of possible holiday reschedules.

The mixed signals (and outcome) that I’m reading about here are remarkable. The kick of it is, if you miss one pickup you end up accumulating four weeks’ worth of either fiber or commingled recyclables before the next time.

I received at least six alerts, maybe more with conflicting information regarding today's pick up.  This is not acceptable.

We got all those texts, too, and didn't put out our recycling because the alerts said they were not picking up today. Our neighbors mostly had theirs out, and their recycling was picked up (grrrr). We will put ours out for pick up tomorrow and we'll see what happens. I am prepared to be disappointed. 

As a follow-up -- they did actually pick up our recycling today.  So they came yesterday and again today.  I am surprised (and pleased)!

Here is the reply I received from the town when I asked about the confusion over recycling pick-up on MLK Day.  Please read through it contains some valuable information about recycling holidays and who/how to contact with recycling issues.

"We spoke with Basso and determined that the cause for the confusion on Monday was that Maplewood considers MLK Day a major holiday, while Basso does not. As a result of this confusion, DPW spoke with Basso and was able to confirm this list of major holidays that his company does observe. This includes only New Year's Day, Memorial Day, 4^th of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. As a result, we have updated our web page to read as follows:
What if my pickup day falls on a holiday? Snow day? F. Basso, Jr. Rubbish Removal observes the following major holidays: New Years Day, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. These are the ONLY holidays that impact the recycling pickup schedule.
If your pickup day falls on a major holiday, then pickup will be made on the next non-holiday pickup day. For instance, in Maplewood, if your pickup day is Monday, Memorial Day pickup would be the Tuesday after Memorial Day.
Snow and weather delays depend on the seriousness of the event. Check with the hauler for updates related to our community and your neighborhood:
F. Basso, Jr. Rubbish Removal at (973) 483-1671
The above number is also where residents should call on days that Township buildings are not open. However, all other days the DPW manages a Township-specific hotline at (973) 762-8120 x3300. This information has now been added to the recycling web page as well."

Very helpful Joan especially for the Monday pickup folks (which fortunately I am not lol). Thanks for following up and actually being the impetus for this update guidance.

I am still not clear on what should have happened on January 2nd.  Legally that was New Year's Day (since the 1st fell on Sunday) and New Year's is one of their listed "Major Holidays" but they picked up on Monday.  Aside from the confusion for residents, those garbage hauler employees deserved to get that holiday.

A little late to the game here maybe but I made this map that hopefully is easy to read and use. I made it mainly for my wife and my neighbors and myself but hopefully it's good for others. It does NOT take into account schedule changes due to holidays or inclement weather or anything so beware!

Anyways, here's the shortened url:

tinyurl.com/bdd9dj5v

willjfield said:

A little late to the game here maybe but I made this map that hopefully is easy to read and use. I made it mainly for my wife and my neighbors and myself but hopefully it's good for others. It does NOT take into account schedule changes due to holidays or inclement weather or anything so beware!

Anyways, here's the shortened url:

tinyurl.com/bdd9dj5v

Correction:  Both sides of Prospect Street where it serves as the border of zones 2 and 4 are in zone 4.  Map shows the east side of Prospect Street as being in zone 2.  This is incorrect.  

joan_crystal said:

Correction:  Both sides of Prospect Street where it serves as the border of zones 2 and 4 are in zone 4.  Map shows the east side of Prospect Street as being in zone 2.  This is incorrect.  

Technically the map is correct. The zones are correct. Prospect and Valley are special cases where they are zone boundaries, and both sides get picked up on the same day.

ridski said:

Technically the map is correct. The zones are correct. Prospect and Valley are special cases where they are zone boundaries, and both sides get picked up on the same day.

Elmwood is the third.  Residents on those three streets have had difficulty figuring out which day to put out their recycling.  Going to this map and selecting where they are on the map can produce incorrect information.  At least the town’s version has a disclaimer indicating the correct zone that applies to each of these three special cases.

In case you missed it - from Troop 20251:

Anyone know whether trade paperbacks can go straight into recycling or if the binding needs to be removed?

jamie said:

In case you missed it - from Troop 20251:

Awesome job Troop 20251.

Golf Island in Maplewood.

My spouse had the comingled and fibers weeks written down in the calendar completely backwards. After 3 weeks of nothing getting taken, he figured it out. By then our plastics bin was overflowing, so he took it to the recycling center (Maplewood). Said it was easy enough to drop off.

Now I think the weeks are corrected on our calendar.... 

I am embarrassed to admit that I got them backwards too.  However it was only two weeks before I spoke with a person at DPW and learned my mistake.  My problem was that  thought the fiber dates were in white and the comingled dates were in green.  True in January but not in February.  I now have the type of pick up entered on my calendar for each pick-up date through the end of June.  If I don't get it straight by then, I am in trouble.

joan_crystal said:

I am embarrassed to admit that I got them backwards too.  However it was only two weeks before I spoke with a person at DPW and learned my mistake.  My problem was that  thought the fiber dates were in white and the comingled dates were in green.  True in January but not in February.  I now have the type of pick up entered on my calendar for each pick-up date through the end of June.  If I don't get it straight by then, I am in trouble.

To this point, for South Orange anyway, there is a calendar that you can download to your phone that indicates which pickup applies for the week.

jimmurphy said:

To this point, for South Orange anyway, there is a calendar that you can download to your phone that indicates which pickup applies for the week.

Maplewood has this too.  However the blue type on green background makes it difficult for older eyes to read the text.