The pending move to the universal use of 96-gallon carts for City of Manteca residential solid waste customers could pose some issues for those in older neighborhoods.

Several people have indicated they have gates that are too narrow for the 96-gallon carts to pass through.

As such, they are worried that being forced to use larger carts they can’t fit through gates will put them in violation of a city ordinance that makes it illegal for them to be visible from the street. The only exception is on collection days when they are allowed to be placed at curbside.

It is just one of a number of concerns readers have voiced in emails and phone calls over the past several weeks concerning  the pending switch in municipal solid waste collection service.

It’s the largest collective change since the city went from traditional trash cans 32 years ago to a trash can and separate bins — a green one for newspapers and magazines plus a blue one and the other for glass bottles as well as tin and aluminum cans.

Besides the universal switch to three 96-gallon carts for residential customers, the city will collect recyclables and yard waste/organic waste weekly as well. The city is also adding items that can be recycled and requiring food waste to be recycled as organic waste as well.

Peni Basalusalu, who oversees the city’s solid waste division, fielded some of the concerns and questions.

*What if a gate is too narrow for 96-carts to fit through?

While newer neighborhoods are built to standards that reflect the clearance needed for 96-gallon carts, there are homes in older neighborhoods that usually predate 1970 where the 96-gallon cart won’t fit through the gate.

In those instances, people have been using either the city’s 32- or 64-gallon carts for garbage and recyclables. The medium 64-gallon carts barely fit through many of the gates in question.

Basalusalu indicated the city will be looking at potential solutions.

*If food scraps will go into the organic waste/yard waste cart shouldn’t the city be thinking about banning garbage disposals in new construction?

That’s not on the table — at least at the moment.

The consulting firm that conducted Manteca’s rate study noted other cities that have switched to organic collection involving food scraps, have banned the use of garage disposals in new homes. The reason is simple.

Garbage disposals send organic waste into the wastewater treatment facilities primarily designed to treat human waste solids.

The process required to break down food scraps is more intense and more costly than human waste processing. As such, it impacts sewer rates in a negative manner.

*Why do households that use 32-gallon or 64-gallon carts now for garbage have to go to 96-gallon carts?

While there are customers that get by on a 32-gallon cart and never contaminate the yard waste or recyclables cart when their garbage cart is full, that is not the case for the majority of households using the smaller carts.

As such, it can render truckloads of recyclables the city collects unfit for recycling. That, in turn, forces the city to pay sustainable tipping fees per load to have “recyclables” buried as garbage due to excess contamination.

The city notes that one birthday party or special event can easily overwhelm the capacity of a 32-gallon cart in homes that have them.

*Does everyone have to give up 32- and 64-gallon carts they already are using for garbage and recyclables and have them replaced with 96-gallon carts?

Yes, but not immediately.

The preplacement will be phased in over time.

There are several reasons for that.

The carts each cost $150 to replace. Of the 25,000 plus households in the city,  there are still roughly 5,000 blue or brown carts in use (out of 75,000 carts based on three carts per household with one for garbage, one for yard waste and one for recyclables).

The 32-gallon carts were targeted for being phased out in 2017.

The city doesn’t have an exact number of 64-gallon carts currently in use.

The reasons for the use of-one size carts universally are two-fold. It maximizes the efficiency of each household collection by trucks as the smaller carts are difficult to pick up and tip using the automatic arms.

And because the automatic arms are designed to operate efficiently with 96 gallon carts, they often damage the smaller ones. In the case of the smallest carts, they  are sometimes dumped into the bin with the other trash.

It costs $150 to replace each cart.

*What if the 96-gallon carts are to difficult for people to move?

If people with physical limitations who do not have someone in the household that can place carts at curbside or if a neighbor isn’t able to assist, the city currently makes arrangements for drivers to retrieve carts from yards.

*Do you have to put carts out every week if it takes you two weeks or more to fill up a 64-gallon blue cart?

People can continue to do what many are doing now — only placing yard waste and recyclables curbside when they are full.

The city, however, wouldn’t advise doing that wait the yard waste/organic waste cart going forward due to food smells that could become an issue if they are not collected every week.

The larger 96-gallon carts do offer advantages. For recycling cardboard, as an example, it requires less of a need to breakdown cardboard boxes so they will fit into the cart.

 The city will collect them when they are switched out with the 96-gallon cart and send them to a firm in Lodi for recycling.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com