Though Chicago is pursuing cost-cutting measures for its garbage collection system, Evanston residents are unlikely to see any changes to their trash disposal policies in the near future.
Last Friday, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley announced plans to overhaul Chicago’s current ward-by-ward system to a more cost-efficient grid-based system, despite resistance from aldermen. Evanston already picks up residential trash according to four areas drawn along the lines of four major roads: Grant Street, Church Street, Main Street and Chicago Avenue.
Two other changes Chicago officials have discussed, privatizing garbage collection and employing fewer workers per truck, are already in place in Evanston.
Since last November, Evanston has privatized most of its garbage collection, according to Patrick Sheeran, Evanston’s streets and sanitation superintendent.
The city has three contracts with private companies, he said. Two of them are with Groot Industries Inc., which has cleared Evanston’s commercial refuse since 2008, and took over residential garbage collection last November. Lakeshore Waste Services removes condominium garbage. The Streets and Sanitation Department oversees the contracts.
The private companies schedule their routes along Evanston’s four collection areas as part of their contracts, Sheeran said. Though most waste disposal operations are privatized, Sheeran said the city still manages some downtown business districts and other public spaces. The city’s garbage-collection employees are also responsible for snow removal operations.
Evanston’s employees and those of the private companies operate single-driver trucks, unlike Chicago’s system, which mostly uses three-person crews.
“Our services are provided with the minimum necessary personnel,” Sheeran said. “It’s consistent with the private industry and it reduces the city’s expenses at the same time.”
