Republic Services - Information on Trucks Collecting Trash & Recycling

The DPW has received the following information from our trash & recycling collection Operations Team, Republic Services of Auburn, MA.

For the town of West Boylston, Republic Services typically uses a Split truck that has two compartments.  This allows for a one truck/one driver combination to service both trash and recycling throughout town.  Over the past few weeks Republic has needed to use a different style of truck, called a Rear Loader due to an extensive maintenance rebuild for the normal truck.  Republic Services expects the normal truck to return to service the first week in August.

The Rear Load style truck requires Republic Services to operate the route twice due to only being one compartment, typically trash first and recycling second.  The operation of this vehicle has a Republic Services driver behind the wheel and a Republic Services employee riding the back, called a "Shaker".  The shaker is only on the back of the truck for service and is never there when the vehicle is traveling far or at a high rate of speed.

We have had a few concerns raised regarding the mixing of trash and recycling.  In these isolated incidents, the perceived mixing has been done because of MassDEP recycling bans causing the haul to be potentially contaminated.  Please remember Styrofoam, plastic bags, greasy pizza boxes, and most packaging materials cannot be recycled.

For a great resource to determine if your recycling is correct or not, please visit the Mass Recycle Smart website: https://recyclesmartma.org/