FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO) – Mayor Tom Henry, along with Fort Wayne residents, City Council Members, City staff and owners of Red River Waste Solutions, Inc., announced improvement plans Tuesday for residential garbage and recycling collection.

In August, Mayor Henry formed the Mayor’s Working Group on Garbage and Recycling in order to review issues and develop solutions to improve the collection process. Group members looked at a variety of issues including missed pick-ups, driver shortages, 311 wait times, improving neighborhood service and collection route inefficiencies.

The group came to the conclusion that the current day schedule is insufficient, requiring trucks to crisscross the City multiple times a day.

A new route has been put into place, which group members believe should have a significant impact on collection improvement.

The new route will begin Monday, November 5, and will impact about 47% of City residents.

Within the next two weeks, Fort Wayne residents will receive an “It’s a New Day” postcard in their mailbox, which will include specific information for their pick-up day. All residents will receive a postcard, even if their day is not changing.

In addition to schedule changes, the working group came up with a few other solutions to help improve Red River’s performance.

• Beginning October 13, the City will add half-day Saturday service in the 311 call center.
• Red River is actively recruiting drivers at job fair events and hired a recruiting firm to assist in the hiring process.
• A new driver training program is in place that will train drivers locally on the actual trucks they will use on the job, which will ensure new hires are properly trained and on the job quicker.

Beginning today, Fort Wayne residents can visit the website MyNewTrashDay.com for information about their schedule that will begin the week of November 5. The page has an interactive search map and other maps showing specific geographic areas.