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Spring Cleanup Week postponed

Groot postpones collection of bulk items and excess waste
to help fight the spread of COVID-19
Groot, the Village's contracted waste hauler, has postponed free Spring Cleanup Week, originally scheduled for April 20-24, to help protect waste haulers and slow the spread of COVID-19.

Each year, Groot Industries provides a clean-up day in the spring and fall for Oswego residents. During this cleanup, Groot collects additional household waste, yard waste and bulk items for all Village residents, typically for one week in late April and one week in early November, on your normally scheduled garbage day, for free. No stickers are required during free cleanup weeks.  

A new date will be announced once it is safe for garbage haulers to handle bulk and loose items again, based on additional guidance and information from the CDC and state and local health authorities. 

Other garbage and recycling reminders during this time... 

1. Bag your trash. 


Two weeks ago, Groot asked all residents using regular trash cans to begin bagging their trash.

If you use your own trash can, you must bag your trash, tie the bags, and put them in the trash can. In many cases, haulers collecting trash cans must touch the can in order to toss the garbage into the truck. If a hauler sees loose garbage in your trash can, they will not touch the can.  

If you use a Groot-issued toter cart, nothing has changed. Place your trash in your toter cart as usual. Haulers will collect your trash using the mechanical arm on the garbage truck, as usual.

 

2. No bulk items. No recycling outside the cart. 

Until further notice, waste haulers will not collect bulk items, electronics, construction debris, or appliances. Haulers will not collect any recycling that is left outside of your recycling cart. 
 
Haulers will not return to collect any trash that is missed or not put at the curb on time.
 

3. If you're sick, put recyclables in the trash. 

if you or someone in your household has tested positive for COVID-19, or is exhibiting symptoms related to COVID-19, including couch, fever, shortness of breath, or difficulty breathing, bag your recyclables and place them in your trash/refuse cart. Continue this practice until symptoms subside. 

If there are no signs of COVID-19 in your household, continue to place your loose recyclables in your recycle cart. 
 

4. TV Recycling is also postponed. 

The TV recycling event originally scheduled for this month has also been postponed. A new date will be announced in the future based on guidance from the CDC and state and local health authorities. 
 

5. Bagged yard waste is still happening. 

Bagged yard waste collection will continue unless additional announcements are made. Yard waste must go in a Kraft paper yard waste bag and get a sticker.  Yard waste bags must weigh less than 50 lbs. and cannot contain dirt or woodchips. 
 

What should we do with all this garbage? 

We understand that these additional restrictions may be difficult for some households that generate large volumes of trash, and we appreciate your efforts to help keep our waste haulers safe and healthy during these unusual times. 

For now, residents are encouraged to seek out eco-friendly ways to reduce consumption of packaging and trash volumes. Now may be a great time to start that backyard compost pile, or to experiment with repurposing items. (Amazon boxes broken down flat are great for suppressing weeds in the garden under your mulch.)  And, if everyone in your household is healthy, recycle what you can, using this Recycling 101 guide from Groot

New dates for Spring Cleanup Week will be announced pending additional information, and you'll be able to put excess trash out then without a sticker. We'll also announce when excess trash can be placed outside the can as soon as it is allowed again. In the meantime, thank you for helping us #flattenthecurve. 
 

Please share!

Do you have neighbors who may not have received this email? Share this message and encourage them to sign up for email from the Village of Oswego. Visit oswegoil.org and click on E-mail Alerts.

For even more updates
For additional information on Village of Oswego operations and resources for residents and businesses, visit the Village’s COVID-19 page. Residents can also follow the Village of Oswego on Facebook and Twitter for to-the-minute updates. 

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Village of Oswego
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Oswego, IL 60543-5104

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