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By Palmer McNeal 

Staff Intern 

The city of Wilmore has established a new trash collection system. Currently, the city has its trash collection system. The logistics and efficiency of this service have become a concern for many city officials and residents alike. 

According to a previous article written by the Journal, three main problems are associated with the current trash collection system. 

At their May 15 meeting in 2023, the Wilmore City Council addressed problems regarding waste collection. According to a previous article published in the Journal about the meeting, city workers ran into three main issues with its Wilmore Trash Collection service. 

The first problem is that the once “top-of-the-line”  garbage truck has seen several issues, and the maintenance has become an expensive chore for the city. Second, there is not a landfill in Wilmore. This means that the trash must be transported to a landfill in Lexington, resulting in additional costs for the city. Finally, Wilmore struggled to hire and retain employees for the city trash collection services. 

During that meeting, the Council voted to begin looking into other options. 

According to last year’s reporting, the council considered two options to solve this problem. Instead of joining the Jessamine County Fiscal Court’s waste collection contract, the Council decided to “go through the request for proposal process to find a company willing to provide its services.” 

After going through the public bidding process, the city of Wilmore signed a contract with Republic Services, and they will begin carrying out their contract by July 1st, 2024. 

According to the city of Wilmore’s monthly newsletter, the current rate for residents’ trash collection is $17.00 per month. With Republic, it will be $17.42 a month. Residents who would like recycling services will be charged an extra $5. The senior citizen rate will increase from $11.00 per month to $13.60. Additionally, all residents will be able to dispose of one large item per month at no additional cost. 

Trash collection will occur every Tuesday or Thursday, with specific details to come. Recycling pick-up will only occur every other Thursday, beginning Thursday, July 11. Residents are expected to have their trash carts on the curb no later than 6 a.m. on trash collection days.  

There are six holidays that trash will not be collected. If any of these holidays fall on a weekday, all trash services will be delayed by one day. 

Republic will communicate directly with customers in the weeks ahead about specific dates and other details. The Wilmore newsletter states that it will also keep readers informed. 

Additionally, residents can continue using the trash containers provided by the city of Wilmore. Eventually, these containers will be replaced with the blue Republic Services containers. 

Republic Services requests that trash containers be placed 5 feet apart from the recycling containers and any other objects nearby. They also request a 16-foot clearance above each trash container.  

More information about the upcoming changes to the city’s trash collection and switch to Republic Services can be found on the Wilmore City website, the Republic Services website, and via the city of Wilmore Newsletter. 

Recycling reminder

Paper, cardboard, metal, tin cans, plastic, glass, and cartons are all recyclable. Do not bag your recyclable materials. Place them loose inside your recycling cart with the lid closed. Make sure your recyclables are empty, clean, and dry before placing them in your recycling cart. This reduces the amount of contamination at recycling centers. If you are unsure about recycling an item, throw it out. Visit RecyclingSimplified.com by Republic Services for more information on recycling.