Shortly after the new, 95-gallon trash carts arrived outside peoples’ homes in town, questions began to surface:

When do we start using the new trash carts?

What do we do with our old trash cans and recycling bins?

How can we get the smaller, 65-gallon trash and recycling carts?

Barrington Town Manager Phil Hervey is directing residents to the town’s website — www.barrington.ri.gov — for answers to those questions and more queries surrounding the town’s upcoming shift from manual trash and recycling collection to an automated system that includes the mandatory use of the larger trash and recycling carts. The Barrington Town Council approved the change a few months ago, citing the lower cost of the automated service.

Hervey, in a message to the Barrington Times late last week, directed residents to reach out to the company that handles the town’s refuse and recycling collection services: Mega Disposal, at 508-336-8466.

“Those with concerns that they’d like to be addressed — special circumstances of a particular household, the size of the carts — should contact Mega,” Hervey wrote. “Mega is taking the calls and maintaining a list of individual cases, so it’s crucial they are contacted.”

An employee answering calls for Mega said Barrington residents can request smaller refuse and recycling bins. They can add their name to a list kept by the company — the company will take requests through the end of July, the employee said. There is, however, a limited number of smaller bins available, the Mega employee said. 

The company will later contact residents with instructions on how they can swap out their larger trash and recycling carts for smaller ones. The Mega employee said residents will also be contacted if the request cannot be met. 

That information may prove to be crucial for some residents, including one woman who reached out to the Barrington Times shortly after the new bins arrived at her house last week. 

“I will not be using these dumpsters,” the resident wrote. “I risk injuring my leg and back, both of which are surgically repaired. Although maybe then I could sue the Town, as they are responsible for the Mega contract.”

Another Barrington resident, Cassie Reis, shared her concerns about the size of the new trash and recycling carts.

“From afar they don't look overwhelming, but as my 5-foot frame walked closer, it was evident that these would be a challenge. I could easily fit inside. I can't imagine how elderly residents are going to manage these,” Reis wrote. “It would be ideal if residents could choose the size of the barrel for their family's needs. Myself, it's me and my 15 year old who is rarely ever home. I put out a single small bag of trash and a usually full bin of recycling per week.”

Longtime Barrington resident Ray Sousa sent a letter to the Barrington Times detailing his feelings about the new, 95-gallon trash and recycling carts.

“I believe that instituting a requirement all residents store and lug out to the curbside those humongous trash containers designed by Mega 12 months of the year just to save peanuts is truly nuts,” Sousa wrote. “Not everybody has a three-car garage or a separate shed to collect garbage and recyclables and can dig it out after a snow storm in order to lay off a couple of workers. I myself, in my 90th year, don't find it easy to wrestle with these.”

Another resident criticized the decision by the Barrington Town Council to change the collection contract from manual pick-up to the automated service. 

“Such a bad idea,” he wrote. “I predict this will not go well. I wonder how many people will do, as I am very tempted to do, and just leave the cans in the road and walk trash bags to them. In any case, this bit of community interaction will be fun to watch play out. Especially in the snow.”

More information

The town has been trying to remind residents that the new trash and recycling carts do not swing into action until the week of June 29. That message fell on deaf ears at some households, despite town officials attaching instruction packets attached to the new carts when they were delivered. 

Meanwhile, many residents want to know what they should do with their old trash and recycling cans.

“We got our brand new trash and recycling bins today,” wrote a Barrington resident. “The thing is we have a perfect space in the garage for two bins and now we have two more. What are we supposed to do with them? The town website says contact Mega Disposal. I called Mega Disposal and they said that wasn't their problem. It was the town's responsibility. These things are not that easy to get around. She said we could put them in our car and drive them to Johnston…Can you imagine the amount of waste all of these bins are going to create?”

Barrington’s recently updated website states that starting on the week of June 29, a large container will be provided at the Barrington Recycling Center on Upland Way specifically for any residents who want to discard their old recycling bins. The collection container will be available through Aug. 14. 

Town officials are encouraging residents to reuse their old trash and recycling carts for lawn waste or other purposes. But for any residents who want to dispose of them, the town will be accepting the old trash and recycling bins from Aug. 17 through Sept. 18 at the Upland Way recycling center. 

“Mega will bring the discarded carts to a facility for recycling,” stated the town’s website.