recycling problems

[gookalockgeek.livejournal.com]

I live in Somerville (though not in Davis Square) and I'm having an issue with my trash/recycling. Last night my landlord showed up at my door and yelled at me for having cardboard boxes and paper bags full of recycling next to my recycling bin, claiming that he has been repeatedly fined for this by the city of Somerville. He demanded that we throw all our recycling in the trash to avoid this. We complied because he is scary and was in our building unannounced and had caught us off guard.

This morning, I cleaned up the 6 bags of trash my neighbors had thrown on the curb (most likely what he is actually being fined for) and put them in trash cans. Then I stood at the window and watched the trash truck throw away the contents of not only the several trash cans, but my clearly marked blue "Somerville Recycles" recycling bin.

Has anyone dealt with this problem before? What do I do to stop this? I moved here from Brookline, where you're fined for NOT recycling, and now I am being punished for doing so.

EDIT: I called 311 and reported the issue, but I'm going to leave this up to let people know that their recycling might end up in the dump if they don't pay attention to who is picking it up!

Comments

I think the contract was renewed recently

[fefie.livejournal.com]

"Does anyone know when the contract with these guys is up again with the city? Is it *really* worth filing a complaint, seeing as most of the BOA seem to love this guy and his company no matter what?"

I recall reading somewhere sometime in 2009 that the contract had been renewed, perhaps in the fall? I have not seen a problem with recycling taken as trash (it would be obvious as trash is picked up really early and recycling in late morning). I do see that the trash pickup leaves a mess though -- a bunch of stuff gets strewn about the street when they pick up.