On Thursday, April 8th, Mayor Gary Christenson will hold a live question and answer webinar where residents will be invited to ask questions about the upcoming Pay-As-You-Throw Trash and Recycling Program changes. Communications Director Ron Cochran will present the details of the new program rollout. Residents may click on this link to join the webinar: https://www.cityofmalden.org/calendar.aspx?EID=1437.
Beginning on April 12th, Malden residents will begin to see a pair of new 35-gallon carts delivered to their curb - one blue recycling cart and one black trash cart. The distribution of carts will take approximately four weeks in total, and residents may immediately begin using the carts as soon as they receive them.
The new recycling carts are now single stream which means that where recycling is currently separated into two separate bins, all recycling materials will now go into one cart. Residents are encouraged to continue their strong recycling efforts including continuing to use any covered carts or barrels that they have already been using for recycling. Nothing has changed about the types of acceptable materials, just that they can now all go into one cart. The existing 18-gallon open topped recycling bins may be kept and reused in another way or left at the curb for JRM to take away for recycling.
One of the biggest changes in the new program is that beginning in July, residents will have the option to purchase an annual "trash tag" which gives them the option to use standard household trash bags instead of having to purchase the blue PAYT bags. The City will also offer residents the option to purchase additional recycling and trash carts for overflow. The advantage is that residents will realize a significant cost savings on how much the carts cost at a retail store as well as an extensive warranty.
Residents are encouraged to stay plugged in to all of these changes by signing up for the City's trash app by visiting www.cityofmalden.org/trash and entering their home address for automated alerts and reminders about this new program.
A rebroadcast of the webinar will be available on the City's website or can be watched on replay on UMA, formerly Malden Access Television.