Malverne Changes Holiday Sanitation Schedule

The village of Malverne will be taking a different approach to how it collects garbage and recyclables during the holidays.

In the past, Malverne has asked its residents to hold onto their cardboard during the weeks of Christmas or New Year's Day. However, village officials are trying out a new plan this year.

The village has seen a dramatic savings in what it spends to dispose of waste since implementing a cardboard recycling program in 2011. By separating out the cardboard, Malverne officials have been able to sell it to recycling plants to generate revenue for the village, while also lowering its waste management expenses by lightening the load they bring to the dump.

Realizing that residents are likely to have an unusually high amount of cardboard around Christmas time from shipping boxes and packaging from gifts, village officials didn't want to miss out on the potential revenue and savings they could collect.

"That's your money and I want it," Malverne Deputy Mayor Joseph Hennessy stated at this month's village board meeting.

So new this year, Malverne's Department of Public Works will have two village-wide pick-ups of cardboard on Wednesday, Dec. 26, and Wednesday, Jan. 2.

Residents who usually put out their trash and recyclables on Mondays and Thursdays will follow their regular schedule, but since the DPW will be closed on two consecutive Tuesdays -- Christmas Day, Dec. 25, and New Year's Day, Jan. 1 --  the Tuesday-Friday people will have a different scheduled.

Crews will be conducting village-wide trash pick-ups on the preceding Mondays, Dec. 24 and Dec. 31, for all residents' garbage. Thursday and Friday of both weeks will follow a normal schedule.

So if your garbage is usually picked up on:

• Mondays and Thursdays, you can put out your trash on Dec. 24, Dec. 27, Dec. 31. and Jan. 2. 
• Tuesdays and Fridays, you can put out your trash on Dec. 24, Dec. 28, Dec. 31 and Jan. 3. 

Recyclables (not including cardboard) will be picked up on Dec. 24 and Jan. 31 for those on a Monday schedule; on Dec. 26 and Jan. 2 for those usually picked up on Tuesdays, on Dec. 27 and Jan. 3 for those picked up on Thursday and on Dec. 28 and Jan. 4 for those on a Friday pick-up schedule. To see which sector you are in click here.

All residents will have their cardboard picked up on Dec. 26 and Jan. 2.

Yardwaste, including Christmas trees, will not be collected during these weeks. Residents will have to hold onto it until Jan. 9.

"It's better for the residents than some of the things we have done it the past," Hennessy added. "We're going to try it and see if it works."

This story was updated on Dec. 27 at 10:40 a.m.