In a “going green” move, many island homeowners will get to keep one blue recycling bin, but have to switch from another blue bin to gray and brown bins for household garbage and yard waste. But the way the mandatory change in garbage hauling contractors is being handled has some residents seeing red.

For its unincorporated areas, Indian River County terminated the garbage contract with Republic Services and signed a new 10-year deal with Waste Management (WM) that took effect Wednesday, Oct. 1.

All residents have to switch to WM and there are no opt-outs. The town of Indian River Shores joined the rest of the county, though residents in the cities of Vero Beach, Sebastian and Fellsmere and the Town of Orchid were not affected by the change and will continue with their present arrangements.

WM supposedly offers more environmentally sound service. Indian River Shores Town Manager Jim Harpring said the heavy garbage trucks will now be rumbling across island streets only one day a week, on Mondays, when everything will be picked up, instead of every day of the week under the previous contractor with different collection days for household waste, yard waste, recycling and bulk items. This is expected to result in significant reductions in traffic, noise and exhaust fumes.

In advance of the official changeover on Oct. 1, since the month of May, WM has been distributing new 95-gallon garbage bins to all residents: a gray bin for normal household solid waste, and a brown bin for yard waste. Actually, Indian River Shores, which has a large number of seasonal residents, negotiated a special exemption which allowed some residents to switch out bins as early as before they headed back north.

But as some residents see it, the main problem is that it still isn’t clear to a lot of people what they are supposed to do with the old blue Republic bins, a matter on which considerable confusion still reigns.

“Just leave them at curbside,” was the usual answer from the old and the new garbage haulers, as well as from town and county officials to anyone who asked. “They’ll come and pick them up.”

Many island residents who started getting their new bins about a month ago have left their old Republic bins out on the street since that time, but the blue receptacles are still there, causing many residents to complain about the unsightly mess along their streets.

“I don’t want to bring my old blue bin back in and put it in the garage because I’m afraid then I’ll miss the pickup day, whenever that will be,” said one resident. “So, I just leave it out, but I hate having to look at it all day.”

One Shores resident complained in a social media post that she had called Republic to ask about the pickup date for the now-obsolete blue bins and was told: “Oh, sometime before Christmas.”

Other residents who called Republic to ask about the promised pickup day say that the ladies on the telephone helpline are always very nice. They say, in the friendliest way possible, that the company is aware of the problem but cannot commit to a specific date at this time. Obviously, Republic, which lost its garbage-hauling contract, has little financial incentive to hurry up and complete the task.

When one resident happened to see a driver from the new company on her street, she asked him if he knew when the old blue bins would be picked up.

“Lady, that’s above my pay grade,” she said she was told.

The WM website said the pickup is being handled by a third-party contractor and Harpring said he believes the pickups should be completed in about a week or so.

Harpring vehemently denied a rumor circulating among some island residents that the contractor switch will actually result in a hidden price increase for garbage pickup.

One resident noted that household garbage pickup service is being reduced from twice to once a week – she says she doesn’t use the yard waste service because her landscaper hauls away his own waste – so there is a service reduction, while garbage hauling fees will now be added to her annual property tax bill, in addition to the inconvenience of garbage odors getting progressively worse for an entire week until the next collection.

Harpring explained that on the contrary, until now, owners of single-family residences paid $44.04 per month for solid waste removal directly to the contractor. Under the new contract, the rate has gone down to just $14.02 per month, or $179.47 per year, which is being added to property tax bills.

Condominium associations have been negotiating their own deals with the new contractor WM, and they generally seem to be pretty happy with the switch. Apparently, condos, which obviously generate a lot more garbage than single-family homes, will continue to get special service, and will still see cost reductions as well.

“The new company sent a representative out to talk to us in advance of the changeover,” said one maintenance manager of a condominium complex. “They promised to keep everything the same, garbage pickup two days a week, Tuesdays and Fridays, and recyclables on Wednesdays. And they’ll take care of switching out any bins.

“We’re also saving a bit of money for our condo association,” the maintenance manager said. “That’ll be passed on to the residents and that’s pretty important to us with all the other costs going up.”

So that smells pretty good to condominium residents.