TOLEDO, Ohio -
Does it really matter who picks up your trash? Toledo residents are telling us it does. And they like the new system.
One year ago Republic's drivers started picking up Toledo's trash.
Residents were a little worried. They had problems with Toledo doing the work but feared change.
Toledoan Kathy McBride likes the new trash system.
"A lot of the time the city had it we didn't get trash picked up until 4, 5, 5:30 in the afternoon and the recyclables were not real good at it.'
Toledo figured it lost four million dollars on trash pick-up. So the city contracted through Lucas County to let Republic pick up the work.
Republic eyed this deal for years, believing it could do it better and cheaper..
Paul Rasmusson of Republic Services says "We're highly specialized in the trucks that we choose, the trucks we maintain or the vendors we use for supplies and our training."
Complaint calls are practically non-existent, even though some customers weren't sure about the new system. Residents don't even miss that strange colored-coded holiday system
Toledoan Diane Lukasik likes the new trash system.
"It's that leap forward system. That's really what messed us up. Don't have to worry about that now. No, no, no and I like it better this way."
The City likes it better this way. Toledo claims it will save $6 million. And no workers lost jobs in the transition.
Ed Moore from the department of transportation says, "We lost zero employees. We actually brought back workers that were laid off previously."
Lucas County sees this partnership with Toledo as a model for other communities.
Country commissioner Pete Gerken says, "This thing's working so well I'd encourage our neighbors to look at it and join up too."
That may take a while, but Toledo residents are pleased they didn't wait any longer.
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