Patriot Disposal Makes Changes to Services…

Due to the increased volume being generated at curbside and the attempt to minimize risk to their employees, the following changes will take place effective Monday, April 6th:

• No yard waste will be collected from residents.
• All trash or recycling must be containerized to avoid risk to the employees. Residents who have extra trash or recyclables that do not fit into their containers must be kept until the next collection day. No bagged or loose trash/recycling placed next to the containers will be collected.
• Please read full notice from Patriot Disposal>>

 

What are our alternatives for dealing with yard waste? This is the big spring yard cleanup time now that its getting warmer.

 

I am echoing this. What do we do with our leaves? Tree branches that have fallen (small and medium size), etc. So we are to pile it up in our backyard??? Thats a no-no per HOA rules/regulations, If Im not mistaken. Or are we to load up our cars with the yard waste ourselves and take it to County landfill instead??? If that is the case, we should have the waste disposal company give Broadlands a fee reduction as we will have to truck the stuff ourselves to the county landfill and do the work ourselves. This is a bit much, really. Some of our elderly neighbors are a bit stressed out over this.

 

What does reducing the quality of our neighborhood trash pick-up service, while charging us the same price as usual, have to do with COVID-19? The typical yard waste from this time of year will not infect any workers, and they have picked it up for years without complaints of worker injuries. No residents have or should get within 6 feet of a Patriot worker dirng this Pandemic. As a community, we should push back on this as it seems unrelated to the COVID-19 pandemic and will inexorably result in unsightly yard waste building up in our community. Yard waste which we already contractually hired Patriot to pick up as part of our mandatory trash fees.

 

If you have that much yard waste just bag it until the service resumes. It's really not too much to ask when, by my estimation, Patriot already has a difficult time keeping a steady crew. The last two pick ups on our street, the driver was working alone.

I think the HOA will overlook lawn bags as long as they're not sitting at the curb for the next 4-6 weeks.

 

I want to provide some observations here about their pickup practices that I observed today:

1) What ever happened to the trucks that have automatic loaders? The trucks I saw today had TWO people working. Did they stop using the automatic loaders where only one person was using the truck?
2) I saw both of them close to one another (not socially distancing one another) and NOT using "masks" that could help them keep COVID -19 at bay.
3) While they had gloves on, I noticed that some of the time they didn't even bother to bring the bin to the truck to empty it. They opened it up and reached deep inside to grab 1-3 trash bags to carry to the truck. Per their instructions, I read that they were to NOT touch the garbage but rather let the truck pick up the bin and empty it.

I call BS to their letter as I believe that their workers are going against everything they said that they wanted to do for their workers (i.e. protect their workers against COVID and bacteria/virus). I think they are doing this to reduce their workforce, possibly. So I do echo what some of our neighbors are saying above: What does reducing the quality of our neighborhood trash pick-up services have to happen at a TIME when their workers don't even BOTHER to really protect themselves by wearing masks, socially distancing themselves, or not reaching into trash bins to grab garbage and stuff? (I wouldn't even bother reaching inside the bin to grab the bags out....I'd empty the bin at the truck.

What gives????

 

If they don't pick up the lawn bags for some time...then what??? Do we put it all in the garage and WAIT until the whole COVID thing blow over or do we have to truck it over to landfill ourselves instead? That's the guidance some of us are waiting for.

 

The stay at home order means people are at home and more on-line orders, generating more waste and recycling for pick-up by Patriot. Give Patriot a break for getting ahead of this.

 

The notice came out less than 24 hours ago and days before the next scheduled yard waste pickup.

 

If you had READ the 6th posting on here, you would learn that I did read their notice and provided my observations of their services today. Since they are STILL picking up recycling, yard waste should be picked up as well. The HOA has not yet provided us with guidance with other yard waste such as leaves, tree limbs, branches, etc -- what to do with it? Store it in our garage? Throw it in the backyard along the fence? Take it to the county landfill if it is even open at this time?

I still disagree with how Patriot handled this because their workers (read the 6th posting above) don't even follow what they say in their own letter to the residents. Lastly, if they are picking up our recyclables, whats to prevent them not to pick up yard waste which doesn't have anything to do with COVID (leaves? branches? grass clippings? <=== they don't even have the virus itself so if its bagged, whats the issue with them not being picked up?)

So what does the HOA have to say about what we can do with yard waste that Patriot won't pick up? What about the smaller fallen tree limbs / branches that may have fallen to the ground due to the winds we've had as well as last year's leaves that still are around? Some of us don't have gardens to dump this stuff into. Are we to take them to county pickup? Put it in the backyard? Garage? etc. Last I read is that the HOA doesn't like people to leave stuff in the backyard ...are they going to not enforce the rules until COVID is over and Patriot resumes the activities?

Food for thought!

 

If you bag, put the bags somewhere out of the way, including your back yard. Small stuff throw in your normal trash, break into smaller pieces if needed.
Per "COVID-19 NOTICE (3/30/20)" thread, if you read it , "Routine violation processing has been suspended".

 

Thought the "routine" violation processing is for house maintenance work...Maybe that'ts their GENERAL statement that ALL violations will be suspended regardless of what it is. Ok. I get it. Will have to bag it and dump it in the backyard for now.

 

I did read your multiple posts. Take a deep breath. Broadlands will make it through this.

 

If you're concerned about your yard waste piling up, you can always put the paper bag of yard waste into your trash toter.

Yes, that's not quite the environmental answer for that waste, but it's a short-term solution.

 

The HOA reached out to Patriot Disposal to address some of the resident concerns. Here is Patriot Disposal's response:

Due to COVID-19, there has been a significant increase in trash, recycling, and yard waste because households are full of students and teleworking adults and spring weather has arrived. In addition, far fewer families are obtaining their meals from outside of the home which results in an even larger volume of trash and recycling. To make matters worse, this additional volume of trash and recycling is straining the solid waste collection system at a time when there are fewer workers available to collect, transport, and process the material.

Solid waste programs throughout the state and the nation are facing higher absenteeism due to the disruption caused by the coronavirus. Trash and recycling collection workers face the same challenges as everyone else, such as finding childcare and addressing family health concerns. This has caused a significant shortage of trained personnel to cover all the normal functions of solid waste programs. The remaining workforce is being deployed to provide only essential sanitation services – weekly trash collection, which can attract vermin and be a vector for disease if left uncollected. Yard waste collection is not essential to preserving public health.

The suspension of yard waste collection is temporary and will return to normal as soon as possible. In the meantime, yard waste can be placed in the trash can, but not left on the curb in bags or bundles. Other ways to manage yard waste are to practice grasscycling (leaving mowed grass clippings on the lawn), backyard composting, or not generating yard waste at all, if possible. Studies indicate that grasscycling is beneficial to both the lawn and the soil.

Unfortunately, the amount of weight by volume that the elimination of yard waste collection saves us is no match for the increase in the volume of trash and recycling that we are collecting and hauling. Therefore, there is no cost savings in eliminating the collection of yard waste that can be passed on to the customer.

The employees that become available by eliminating yard waste collection are being re-assigned to other routes to pick up trash and recycling which is necessary to accommodate the increased volume of these items.

It is virtually impossible for those in the solid waste industry to obtain a sufficient amount of PPE (personal protective equipment) for its workforce. Even if we were able to secure PPE for our employees, face masks and latex gloves are neither practical nor durable enough to withstand the amount of movement required to collect trash and the perspiration that results from that movement. On average, each of our workers RUNS an average of 3 miles each day and handles more than 1,000 items (bags, containers, etc.) during the performance of their duties. And while we are attempting to provide our employees with hand sanitizer, even this has become impossible to obtain in sufficient quantity for our entire workforce.

In addition to the lack of our ability to obtain and use PPE, it is also impossible to collect solid waste while complying with the recommended social distancing guidelines. While we do have several side-load vehicles in our fleet which are fully automated and require only one employee to operate, the majority of our workforce are using rear-load vehicles, which require two employees to ride together and work side-by-side throughout the day. And some of them have 3 people.

Overall, we urge residents to follow these guidelines to assist us with keeping our workforce healthy so that additional reductions in services can be avoided:

1. Reduce the generation of waste to ease the strain on the system. (Postpone spring cleaning.)

2. Wipe and disinfect cart handles and lids.

3. Stop setting out yard waste at the curb; implement mulching or composting.

4. Seal sharp medical objects in a rigid plastic container with sturdy tape and label it “sharps.”

5. Bag all trash to limit workers’ exposure to harmful materials.

It is our sincere hope that the threat posed by the COVID-19 virus will lessen soon so that we can all resume our normal lives. It is imperative that we continue to support one another until then and work together to maintain the essential services that will protect us all from further harm.

 

While we're being asked to "reduce" yard waste (How do you do that?), LoCo seems to be telling the trash haulers that they need to pick it up and keep it separate: "Loudoun County is also reminding waste haulers that they are required to pick up yard waste in accordance with the county’s ordinances....Residents who have questions should contact their waste haulers directly and ensure that this service will continue as required."

https://www.loudoun.gov/Blog.aspx?IID=143


Loudoun County Urges Residents to Delay Putting Out Yard Waste for Pick Up
Posted to Coronavirus (COVID-19) on April 03, 2020 at 06:10 PM by Nancy McCormick

To prevent overwhelming the waste collection and disposal operations in the county, Loudoun County officials are asking residents to reduce yard waste during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some trash haulers have recently notified customers that they may reduce service as a result of the pandemic. Yard waste is considered a recyclable material and under local ordinance, it must be sorted and recycled separately from household solid waste and collected by all major waste haulers. Loudoun County is required by the state of Virginia to recycle 25 percent of its Municipal Solid Waste stream.

The recycling of yard waste also benefits the Loudoun County landfill by diverting this material from consuming space reserved for garbage. Currently all yard waste collected curbside is diverted from the Loudoun County landfill and taken to several local composting facilities that rely on the material supply to stay in operation. If this were not the case, the landfill would have difficulty processing the inflow of yard waste.

In 2019, Loudoun recycled about 15,000 tons of yard waste, which equaled about 13% of the county’s 118,000 tons of total recycled waste.

Loudoun County is also reminding waste haulers that they are required to pick up yard waste in accordance with the county’s ordinances. Loudoun County regulates the issuance of permits to businesses that provide solid waste collection services, including recycling services, in the county.

Residents who have questions should contact their waste haulers directly and ensure that this service will continue as required. Residents who have a question or concern about their waste collection may submit their question through the Loudoun Express Request system.

 

Now, that Patriot Disposal has CLARIFIED their original instructions, we now can do this: "In the meantime, yard waste can be placed in the trash can, but not left on the curb in bags or bundles." So that resolves the issues some of us had!

Federal Govt is now encouraging people to wear cloth masks now...so these guys can wear bandanas to protect themselves if they are working together in twos or threes and to prevent them from getting any bacteria or virus on our trash bin handles Simple. If they don't want to wear it and get the virus...its on them. Since they don't wear masks, I have no choice but to wipe down the bin handles to protect myself from them. If they are asking US to clean the handles for them, they should wear masks to ensure that they don't cough or sneeze on our handles accidentally. Thats why cloth masks are being recommended by govt.

 

I always wipe down my bins - Covid-19 doesn't change my cleaning habits.

 

I understand that more people are at home creating more waste. But that also mean less people are at work, school, stores, restaurants creating waste. So that being said who was picking up waste from these places. Can't they step in and help?

 

Following discussions with Loudoun County officials, Patriot Disposal will amend their yard waste service offering effective Monday, April 13th, 2020. These changes coincide with the county’s by-laws. Here is how Patriot Disposal will operate:

• yard waste will be collected every Monday at curbside
• 3 bag per household limit
• all material must be in paper bags……NO Plastic will be collected
• No bundles or piles will be collected
• Safety remains the top priority