The Highway Division provides for solid waste collection and disposal of all household rubbish. The collection and disposal of this material impacts the health and welfare of the entire community. The effectiveness of this operation depends greatly on the cooperation of residents in complying with the established rules and regulations.
The Town of Reading will provide for the collection of household rubbish from single-family detached, two- and three-family attached residences, and condominium complexes in the Town in accordance with these regulations:
Schedule
Items will be collected once per week in accordance with a schedule to be published periodically.
1. No collection will be made from stores, business houses, rooming or boarding houses, manufacturing plants, professional buildings or other commercial enterprises.
2. Items will be collected when set at the edge of the traveled way in approved containers by 6:30 A.M. on regular collection days. Workers are prohibited from entering onto or trespassing on any private property during their collection. If rubbish is not placed on the edge of the traveled way by 6:30 A.M. on regular collection days, and the contractor has already driven by the residence, the rubbish will not be picked up that week and the resident will be responsible for removing the rubbish from the edge of the roadway no later than the end of that day.
3. No collection will be made on days that the following legal holidays are celebrated: New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Day, President's Day, Patriots Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. Collections will be one day late during the balance of the week in which the holiday falls; if a holiday falls on a weekday, the fifth day of collection will be Saturday. (As an example, if a holiday falls on Monday, Monday's collection will be made on Tuesday, Tuesday's on Wednesday, etc.)
Approved Containers
Rubbish except for bulk waste must be placed in an approved container, as follows:
1. Approved containers are ‚"wet strength" 2-ply 50-pound kraft paper sacks of 30 gallon capacity; 1.5-mil thickness plastic bags of 30-gallon capacity; or 30-gallon capacity barrels with handles. Residents using barrels are cautioned that subzero temperatures and icing will result in the barrel having to be banged on the steel hopper of the truck, which will probably split or dent the barrels.
2. Residents using other types of barrels or other unapproved containers should recognize that these containers will be treated as a bulk item and disposed of as such.
3. The Town discourages the use of cardboard barrels or cardboard boxes since once they become wet they lose much of their strength. The Town of Reading and the contractor will not be responsible for any damage to the cardboard barrels. Residents who use cardboard barrels should recognize that the above damage will probably occur.
4. If a container falls apart during collection, any rubbish left need not be picked up by the contractor, and the resident will be responsible for cleaning up all the rubbish.
Reading residents will be required to:
- Limit their rubbish disposal to 120 gallons (4 bags or small barrels or 3 large barrels) per household per week.
- Weekly Recycling is mandatory for every household.
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