By Chris Meyers
Staff writer

     The gray and black recycling containers that have dotted road sides for the last few years will be a thing of the past starting in about two weeks.
     National Serv-All has announced it will begin pickup Dec. 18 of the two containers per household currently used for recycling.
     Churubusco will be the first area in the county to see its containers go, followed by other areas with pickups later in the month.
     The containers, which are owned by National Serv-All, are being removed on the last pickup date of the year for each route in the county.
     “That’s going to be their last pickup with National Serv-All,” Jorell Tucker, Whitley County Solid Waste District Director said of the schedule.
     Plans call for at least one vehicle to follow the trucks and remove the containers after they are dumped into the main truck.
     In mid-December, delivery will begin with one 96-gallon container dropped off at each house.
     The new service will have all recyclable material deposited in one container, along with an expanded list of plastics.
    Tucker said residents should call the solid waste building on South Line Street if they don’t have containers by Jan. 2.
     “Just be patient. That’s all we’re asking,” he said.
     If residents feel after a month of the new service that they need extra containers, they can buy them at the solid waste building.
     The new containers have a computer chip in them and a serial number printed on the outside for easy tracking.
     Eventually, the new trucks may  be rigged with software which will communicate with the computer chip in the containers to see how much material is in each container upon pickup.
     “It was something the cart manufacturer offered us at no cost,” Tucker said.
     Aside from the new containers, the rest of the equipment needed for the switch from National Serv-All to the new service, All Pro Towing doing business as Whitley Environmental, seems to be going well.
     Dwayne Knott of All Pro Towing said one truck is finished and the second will be completed soon.
     “We should be able to pick up the first two trucks later this week,” he said, adding that a third truck is slated for mid-December delivery.
     Dumpsters for school pickup are also expected to arrive mid-December.
     Equipment is also being moved to Whitley Environmental’s new location in the county this week.
     “We won’t be settled in, but we’ll be moved in,” Knott said.

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