Town of Cumberland
Recycling Department
Press Release
September 17, 2015
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Donna Kaehler 728-2400 x 155
Cumberland –
Curbside yard waste collection is getting ready to start once again in Cumberland. This year, our
fall season will get an earlier than normal start, beginning on Monday, October 5, 2015. Service
will continue through Friday, December 5, 2015. Yard waste is collected on the same day as
your regular trash, but now three trucks will service your street. One truck will be for your trash
pick-up; another for recyclables; and then an additional truck for our separate yard waste
collection.
When this seasonal collection operates, the town allows 8 bags of just yard waste to be collected
weekly. All yard waste is then brought to RI Resource Recovery Corporation (RIRRC) and made
into organic compost. “For households that have not started their own backyard compost, this is
an ideal way to manage the large amounts of leaves we have this time of year,” explains Donna
Kaehler from the town’s DPW Recycling Department.
Yard waste must be placed out at the curb in brown biodegradable lawn bags. It cannot be
accepted in plastic bags or loose in cans. The weekly limit allows for 8 bags or bundles of small
branches that are under 3 feet in length and 2 inches diameter. Stones, sand, large pieces of
wood, and trash cannot be mixed in.
Amounts that exceed the 8 bag limit will unfortunately not be collected. “We do have to limit
the amounts of yards waste collected so as to provide service to all 10,000 homes that we have in
our town.” For those who have more, a drop off at the Kent Street garage is currently available
Monday – Friday 8 am to 2 pm.
Residents are reminded that yard waste must stay separate from their trash. All trash goes to
RIRRC and is then landfilled. “We never want to landfill waste that can be recycled and made
into compost or reused.” A major goal of the state is to keep our landfill operating as long as
possible. Currently it is estimated that the landfill will be totally filled in 24 years. Our residents
can easily extent this timeframe by making sure only true trash gets to the landfill. “Our yard
waste program is one easy way save our landfill.”
Questions can be answered at 728-2400 x 155.