The Department of Public Works will Deliver New Standard Trash Carts June 6–24. Expect Some Traffic Delays during Delivery.

The Department of Public Works (DPW) will deliver free standard trash carts to all buildings where the City of Cambridge collects trash from June 6 through June 24. Each property will receive either 45 gallon or 65 gallon carts, unless your building requested a change by May 17.

Note: Due to logistics associated with DPW's contractor delivering multiple trash carts per neighborhood block and limited space to pull over, this will result in traffic impacts.
DPW will work closely with the contractor to try to minimize this interruption.

The new carts will replace your current trash barrels and will help control rodents. Only city-issued trash carts will be emptied after June 27, 2022. Below is the current plan for when the new trash carts will arrive. Delivery dates may change slightly due to unforeseen issues.

If your trash is picked up on:
• Mondays
o New carts will arrive between Thursday, 6/16 and Saturday, 6/18
• Tuesdays
o New carts will arrive between Thursday, 6/9 and Saturday, 6/11
• Wednesdays
o New carts will arrive between Tuesday, 6/21 and Thursday, 6/23
• Thursdays
o New carts will arrive between Monday, 6/13 and Wednesday, 6/15
• Fridays
o New carts will arrive between Monday, 6/6 and Wednesday, 6/8

The new carts will replace all old trash barrels. Approximately 45% of current trash barrels have holes in them, a sign of rodent activity.

Old trash barrels under 45 gallons may be reused for yard waste collection. If you do not wish to keep your old trash barrels, starting on June 11, the City will begin collecting old trash barrels for special recycling the day after your regular pick-up day. Please note, it may take 1-3 days for barrels to be collected. For more information on old barrel collection, visit www.cambridgema.gov/trash

The goals of these new standard trash carts are to improve:
• rodent control and prevention
• worker safety by reducing lifting impacts on DPW staff
• sidewalk accessibility

Trash carts are just one piece of the puzzle to address rodent control and prevention in Cambridge. To help reduce rodents in your neighborhood, the City encourages residents to use these new trash carts and avoid placing trash in bags on the curb whenever possible, keep the lids closed tightly on the new trash carts, and separate food waste from your trash by participating in the City’s free curbside compost program. Compost carts have locks or latches which secure food waste. Both trash and compost carts are made of thicker plastic than most barrels available in retail stores.

To learn more, please visit CambridgeMA.Gov/Trash.