East Peoria residents now have a timeline to comply with the city’s mandatory garbage-tote program next spring. Residents with garbage pick-up on Monday and Tuesday need to have a new toter in place by March. Anyone with a Wednesday route must have the container in use by May. East Peoria Public Works Director Steve Ferguson says the city could not require the toter-use at the same time:
“Just the logistics of selling those, delivering those and obtaining those from the supplier, that couldn't all just happen on one date. It needed to be staggered,” Ferguson says.
Ferguson says residents with a Thursday route must buy a new toter by June and the deadline for Friday routes is July. The program aims to reduce costs and make city trash pick-up more efficient. The totes would be mechanically dumped in the back of a garbage truck. Employees manually lift and dump garbage containers now. Residents can buy either a 65 or 95-gallon container from the city.