The City of Clinton’s Public Works and Utilities Department collected nearly 30 tons of trash during Fall Clean Up Week earlier this month, during which regular rules are suspended and additional items, including furniture, appliances, four tires per household and tree limbs cut to a certain length, are collected.
The 29.5 tons of trash collected during Fall Clean Up Week, held Oct. 9-13, was seven tons more than last year’s fall cleanup effort, said Stacey Ray, senior administrative specialist for the City of Clinton’s Public Works and Utilities Department.
Among the items collected, Ray said 66 mattresses and box springs, 32 televisions, 83 tires, 37 chairs, 16 couches, four dryers, two heaters and two lawnmowers were placed by curbs as part of regular trash collection.
While the biannual clean up weeks — one is also held in the spring — expand what can be collected by Public Works crews and allow residents to clean up their neighborhoods, many items still cannot be collected. Those include oil-based paints, batteries, insecticides, auto parts, gasoline and other substances that pose safety hazards for city crews and are unable to be processed at the landfill. They have been able to be collected during Household Hazard Waste Day, which has coincided with the fall cleanup but was not held this year.
The department coordinates the biannual cleanup efforts, allowing residents the opportunities to cast off old broken pieces of furniture, old cans of paint, yard scraps and other items that be more of a nuisance or eyesore than anything.
The main goal is to beautify the community and offer an opportunity for residents to participate in the effort to make aesthetic improvements and further prevent blight in their neighborhoods. Over the years, city residents have regularly taken advantage of the week-long cleanup campaigns and hundreds of tons of trash has been removed from homes, yards and streets.
For more information on cleanup efforts, contact the City of Clinton Public Works at 910-299-4905.