Twice-weekly trash collection comes to North Philly in January. Here’s what to know

Have a question about Philly’s neighborhoods or the systems that shape them? PlanPhilly reporters want to hear from you! Ask us a question or send us a story idea you think we should cover.

Residents of North Philadelphia who find their household trash piling up throughout the week are in luck.

The trash truck will come more often in some areas starting Jan. 5, as Mayor Cherelle Parker’s twice-a-week trash collection program enters its second phase.

Carlton Williams, director of Philadelphia’s Office of Clean and Green Initiatives, said trash can accumulate quickly for larger households.

“Just by midweek, you usually generate two or three bags of trash,” Williams said. “By the time you are able to have that weekly collection, you may have six or seven bags of trash. If you don’t have a storage area for it or if you have limited storage capacity, you’re more likely to try to get rid of it.”

Where will twice-weekly trash pickup happen?

Twice-a-week pickup is expanding to neighborhoods including Tioga, Strawberry Mansion, Brewerytown, Spring Garden and Fairmount to the west of Broad Street and Fairhill, Fishtown, Ludlow and Northern Liberties to the east of Broad Street.

The city says the exact boundaries of phase two are:

• Vine Street to Hunting Park Avenue, from Broad Street to the Schuylkill River
• Vine Street to Glenwood Avenue, from Broad Street to the Delaware River

The second pickup day will be three or four days after an area’s original pickup day. For example, areas where trash collection currently happens on Mondays will get a second pickup on Thursdays, and areas with Friday collections will get a second pickup on Tuesdays. Twice-weekly trash pickup will not occur during weeks with city-observed holidays.

Recycling pickup will remain once a week.

How were these areas chosen?

Williams said the city prioritizes areas for twice-weekly trash pickup based on several factors, including population density, the concentration of multifamily housing with little storage space for trash during the week and the prevalence of litter and dumping.

He said the city has found that densely populated communities with multifamily properties and limited storage capacity for trash “are most likely to dump in remote locations.”

Have twice-weekly trash pickups worked so far?

City sanitation officials hope collecting trash more frequently will curb illegal dumping of residential waste, and reduce the need for city staffers to clean up dumping.

Williams said that while the “most egregious” cases of illegal dumping come from contractors, tire shops and commercial establishments, illegally dumped residential waste generates the most complaints.

“It could be found on vacant spots, on street corners, in front of Big Belly trash cans and then in parks and recreation centers,” he said. “Normally, what occurs is that once they see one or two bags, it attracts other people to do it and then, unfortunately, you have a dumping problem.”

The Sanitation Department rolled out the first phase of its twice-weekly pickup program in areas of South Philly and Center City last year.

Some residents complained that the program actually made litter conditions in their neighborhoods worse. They said two weekly pickups meant more trash spilling out of trash cans and bags when sanitation crews tossed them into trash trucks.

But Williams said that overall, the program has shown promising results. Calls to 311 to report illegal dumping in South Philly have decreased slightly since the program started, he said, and scores on a Community Appearance Index improved. Community Appearance Index data have not been released publicly.

“That is progress that we’re happy to continue here in North Philadelphia to try to mitigate these conditions,” Williams said.