It is leaf season in the city of Greenville, and ten crews and three street sweepers are working six days a week to collect what is expected to total nearly twelve million pounds of leaves by the end of December.
To aid in this effort, the city is asking residents to make sure they correctly prep their yard waste for collection. By following the guidelines below, residents can help keep their neighborhood streets clean:
- Rake leaves into a loose pile at the curb (no bagging)
- Keep leaf pile separate from tree limbs/branches
- Make sure piles are at least three feet away from each other and from obstacles (mailboxes, utility poles, vehicles, etc.)
- Place leaf/grass clipping pile at least a foot from the curb to prevent debris from being swept into storm drains
- Remove vehicles from the street on collection day to ensure trucks can access yard waste piles
The city is also asking residents not to place pumpkins at the curb with their yard waste since they cannot be collected by the automated trucks.
During leaf season, if a resident’s yard waste is not collected on their regular pickup day, it will be collected the following day. The city’s automated leaf collection trucks operate with the collection arm on the right side, so routes are designed to be loops. This can cause confusion for residents who see the truck collecting yard waste in front of the homes across the street but not collecting theirs. Additionally, the city uses different crews and different equipment to pick up grass and leaves than it does to pick up sticks andbranches, so residents may not realize that another vehicle will be coming separately.
From now through December, the city’s Solid Waste/Recycling Division will post the yard waste crews’ locations and any service alerts online each day so residents can follow their progress. The city has also developed a short “how-to” video for residents.