City begins loose leaf pickup
Nov. 22—HIGH POINT — City crews have started the first of two annual rounds of curbside loose leaf collection in High Point neighborhoods.
Pickups began Nov. 13 and will continue until Dec. 2 for Monday and Wednesday garbage service areas.
The first pickups for Tuesday and Thursday garbage service areas are scheduled to start the week of Dec. 4.
The city offers the free service each fall, using automated trucks that vacuum leaves and take them to Ingleside Compost Facility, where they're processed into mulch and soil.
"The big things are — we see it all the time — but (leaf piles) are not supposed to be in the street or in the curb and gutter line," so they don't interfere with traffic or block storm drains, said Assistant Public Services Director Melinda King.
Leaf piles must be free and clear of all other materials, such as sticks, limbs and garbage.
"That's actually what sometimes causes a lot of the problems with the processing, because (the machinery) is not built to grind up that dense of a material," King said.
Residents can also get loose leaves picked up through the city's regular weekly yard waste service by placing them in city-issued yard-waste rollout carts or in paper bags.
The city earlier this year banned the use of plastic bags in yard-waste collection and disposal.
The second round of leaf collections begins the week of Jan. 2 for Monday and Wednesday garbage service areas, and Jan. 22 for Tuesday and Thursday service areas.
For more information, go to www.highpointnc.gov/760/Loose-Leaf-Pickup
