Story and photo by Amy Eddings

With the coming of dawn on Tuesday came the dawn of a new era in Ada’s solid waste management.  Workers delivered the new, blue bins that will be used by Republic, the village’s new garbage hauler.  Republic won a three-year contract with the village after outbidding Ada’s longtime garbage service provider, Waste Management, by 37 cents per customer per year. 

The lower bid means savings for Ada’s residents, who will pay $14 per month for their solid waste management service, instead of $16.83.

All down North Main Street, Republic’s blue bins were seen standing shoulder to shoulder with Waste Management’s green and yellow bins (Waste Management also uses brown bins).  This Tuesday is a garbage and recycling pick-up day for Ada, and residents had wheeled their Waste Management totes to the curb. 

Ada residents will need to find a place for all four bins for a week.  Waste Management will make one more pick-up on Tuesday, Nov. 24, of both garbage and recycling.  After the refuse and recyclables have been picked up, workers will haul away Waste Management’s bins.  Jamie Hall, Village Assistant Administrator, said this may not happen right away.

“It could take two or three days,” he said.  “We’re not sure how they’re going to man it.”

He said he’s most concerned about Ohio Northern University students who could be leaving as early as this Thursday or Friday for their Thanksgiving Recess, which runs from Monday, Nov. 23 — the day before Waste Management’s final garbage and recycling pickup — through Friday, Nov. 27.  Hall said school administrators are telling students to leave their bins out on the curb before they go home for the holiday.

“We may see some totes out this weekend,” he said.

Republic’s first pick-up will be Tuesday, Dec. 1. For residents who live north of the train tracks, they’re to set out their recyclables, too, and follow an every-other-week recycling schedule after that.  For residents south of the tracks, their first recycling pick-up will be on Dec. 8.

This separation of the village into two recycling zones is a change from Waste Management’s recycling operations, which had crews picking up plastic, metal, glass and paper recyclables from all of Ada’s 1,200 households every other week.

“The advantage is, if they missed a recycling pick-up, they’ll be in town, so the customer won’t have to wait two weeks,” said Hall of Republic’s approach.

Details of the transition from Waste Management’s service to Republic’s is on the village website, www.adaoh.com.