A Trashy Situation

Solid waste disposal has been an issue since civilizations began. Once nomadic tribes settled down and built permanent settlements, trash disposal became an issue.

The earliest recorded landfill was developed in 3000 BC on the island of Crete, where large holes were dug into the ground to dump the trash. China, in 2000 BC, developed the first methods of composting and recycling. The first trash law was passed in Athens, Greece in 500 BC requiring citizens to dump their garbage at least one mile from the city to preserve its beauty and to prevent illness. In 1551 the first anti-littering law was passed in Germany. The Public Health Act of 1875 was passed by the English Parliament to allow cities to create the first public trash collection services.

America also had to deal with trash produced by its citizens. In 1657 a law was passed on Manhattan Island banning littering. Ben Franklin started the first street cleaning service and encouraged the public to dig holes to dispose of their waste, instead of throwing it in the streets. Incinerators were developed in New York City to burn trash in 1885 and by 1914 there were more than 300 incinerators in operation in the United States. By 1914 landfills began to grow in popularity across the country in order to get away from the incinerators and the smoke they produced. In 1921 the first rear-loader garbage truck was developed, making waste pickup more efficient.

Today, Americans make up less than 5% of the global population; but create almost 20% of the world's garbage. America produces over 250 billion tons of trash each year. The average cost of trash collection in the United States is $14 per month, making it the lowest of all utility bills.

As a child growing up in Elvins, I remember the Ginney Man going from house to house picking up trash for a fee. He would load the trash in the back of his wagon that was pulled by his mule. He would then go up to the end of Hampton Avenue and would go on the old track bed and dump the trash in the woods off a bluff. After 70 years, those mountains of rusting tin cans are still there.

Solid waste has been an issue in Park Hills since it became a city in 1994. At that time I served as a councilman from Ward 4. The council realized the city was spending more on landfill fees than the trash fees were bringing in. The city was losing over $80,000 a year. At that time the city was picking up an unlimited amount of bagged trash from each home. Several homes had 30+ bags each week. One home, in particular, was lived in by an elderly woman. Her 8 children lived outside city limits, but all brought their trash to mom’s house on trash day. It was then that a two-bag limit was placed on each household. Approximately 5 years ago, Mayor Daniel Naucke raised the bag limit to 4 bags per household with the approval of the city council. About the same time, the landfill raised its tipping fees and stopped recycling. The city was forced to raise the monthly trash fee from $12 to $13.25 per month. The city spent $163,300 in tipping fees in 2021.

In my opinion, the city has not done enough to make the citizens aware of the city’s solid waste policy. City hall receives calls each week concerning why trash was left by our sanitation workers. I would like to post on this blog the city’s solid waste policy to try to make it clear what is required.

Park Hills Solid Waste Policy

All trash must be in bags no larger than 32 gallons. A bag is considered a container. Bagged trash can be put in trash cans as long as they are no larger than 35-gallon cans, but loose trash in a can will not be emptied. Sanitation workers are not allowed to pick up a can, lift it and empty it into the truck. This is a safety issue and is followed to prevent injuries. They are allowed to pull bags of trash out of the cans and throw them into the truck. Any bag weighing over 75 pounds will not be picked up. Trash cans over 35 gallons will not be emptied.
Sanitation workers will only pick up 4 bags of trash from each resident regardless of the size of the bag. Four 32-gallon bags equals 128 gallons of trash and the workers will pick these up each week. Some homes choose to put out the white 13-gallon kitchen-size bags. The workers will still only take 4 of these white bags even though they total only 52 gallons of trash. There have been citizens that put out Walmart sacks of trash. They too will be picked up, but again only 4 bags will be picked up. The workers will take more than 4 bags of trash if a pre-purchased trash sticker is attached to all bags over 4. These stickers may be purchased at City Hall, the Water Department, and Harps Grocery Store for $1 each. These stickers are to be placed around the top of each bag where the drawstring is located.
Cardboard boxes are to be broken down and placed in a bag, but most of the time the workers will pick up the boxes without being in a bag if they are flattened out.
Sanitation workers begin their day at 7:00 am. All trash should be at the edge of the street by that time. Should a citizen fail to get their trash out before the trash truck comes by their home, the citizen may call city hall and request them to come back to get the late trash. Workers do not fail to pick up trash unless the rules above are not followed.

These rules were passed by previous city councils for the safety of the sanitation workers. Statistics show sanitation workers have more workman's comp claims than all of the other departments combined. Our sanitation workers do their jobs in all types of weather, often in the harshest of conditions. By following our “Solid Waste Policy” you will be helping to keep our workers safe from injuries. Thank you for helping our sanitation workers.