Updated: Asheville Sanitation resumes normal collection schedule

Updated information:

The City of Asheville brush, trash and recycling collection are all operating on schedule. Thank you to everyone as we sorted out logistics for the safety of our employees and the community in the first few months of the pandemic.

For the most up-to-date City Sanitation information or notification of any delays, Asheville residents can sign up for reminders or service alerts at ashevillenc.gov/AVLcollects.

Original announcement

Updated information for the week of April 13

Through the pandemic, Asheville Sanitation has been working to balance service to our residents with safety considerations of its employees. We understand there has been some frustration regarding brush collection and have an update about our services.

Trash collection and other essential City services will continue to take priority over brush collection. Brush collection pace will depend on availability of staff and resources.
Our claw trucks have been out collecting large brush piles for the duration of the pandemic. These trucks will continue running and collecting large brush piles.
In addition to claw truck brush collection of large piles, the Sanitation Division will start running rear packer collection for small brush and bagged leaves. Please drive with care around these collection trucks, as the operation will be modified from our usual procedure in order to maintain social distancing.
Sanitation will *not* be running the brush routes on a regular schedule. We will start with residents on Brush Collection Week A and collect at each location until we have run through all locations, then move to Brush Collection Week B.
We highly encourage use of paper bags for leaves and small brush. Paper bags make collection faster, cleaner, and more efficient.
For the remainder of April, Asheville City residents can take their brush or leaves to the Buncombe County Landfill at no charge.

All City of Asheville employees deserve a safe environment on the job. We have taken this measure to help slow the spread of COVID-19 so as to preserve their health and safety.

Thank you for your patience.

Original post, April 6

Asheville Sanitation continues to review ways to protect City workers from potential exposure to the COVID-19 virus and to ensure continuity of regular curbside trash collection for the duration of the pandemic.

Here’s where service stands the week of April 6:

Curbside trash and recycling collection continue as scheduled. All trash in green carts must be bagged. All recycling in blue carts should remain loose and un-bagged.
Brush collection will continue to be postponed. Sanitation will continue to provide limited collection of large piles with a claw truck in an effort to minimize obstructions.
Bulky collection will be limited. Bulky trash collection will be limited to only large items that can be collected with the claw truck.

Sanitation is unable to collect extra bags or boxes of loose trash material. Households that are regularly generating more trash than can fit in one cart are asked to request an extra trash cart by calling 828-251-1122.

Bulky items must be placed in an area accessible to the claw truck. Additionally, please avoid blocking sidewalks with refuse. Please ensure that any containers, bags, or piles of brush are not obstructing sidewalks or traffic.

We have deployed the claw trucks to get to some of the brush and bulky waste as we can. Regular brush and bulky waste collection operations require a two- to three-person crew to be in close quarters in the cab of a truck throughout the day, creating the potential for virus transmission. We are working to protect those staff from potential exposure. Also a three-person crew in a cab is not permissible under Buncombe County’s Stay Safe, Stay Home order.

All City of Asheville employees deserve a safe environment on the job. We have taken this measure to help slow the spread of COVID-19 so as to preserve their health and safety.

Thank you for your patience.