Oakland residents who want to dispose of large items now have a direct line to the city’s garbage company.
Under expanded Waste Management services announced this week, all Oakland residents may now schedule appointments to drop off “bulky items” for free at the landfill located at 2615 Davis Street in San Leandro.
Rules for scheduling curbside pickups have also changed. For the first time, renters of homes and apartments can schedule a pickup without having to go through the building owner or property manager. The changes went into effect Monday.
“We’re doing our part to help keep Oakland clean and provide residents with as many opportunities as we can to use a free service that properly disposes of materials,” Waste Management of Alameda, Inc. President Barry Skolnick said in a statement. “We’re working with the city to offer the service to more residents, provide more options for disposal and make scheduling an appointment or drop off as easy as possible.”
Residents in buildings with four or more units can schedule a curbside pickup once a year, while people who live in single-family dwellings may request a collection twice a year. The bulk pickup can be four cubic yards of items, including tires, carpets, mattresses and box springs, appliances and electronics, according to Waste Management.
To schedule a pick up or drop off, call 1-888-WM-Bulky. More information can be found here.
Waste Management says it can accommodate up to 50 appointments each weekday and 100 on Saturdays. Curbside collection will not occur from December 27 to Jan. 14 because workers will be busy picking up Christmas trees.
Oakland leaders hope the increased access helps reduce the amount of illegal dumping. From Oct. 1, 2020 to Sept. 30, 2021, Public Works staff cleaned up more than 23,000 tons of dumped items, Public Works Director G. Harold Duffey said in a statement.
“East Oakland is disproportionately harmed by illegal dumping and our communities have been organizing and volunteering to combat the problem for years,” Councilmember Treva Reid said in a statement. “These improved services provide some much-needed reinforcements to those community efforts and I encourage all our residents to take advantage of them.”
Councilmember Noel Gallo, who has led an ongoing weekend street cleanup, called on residents to share in the responsibility of keeping trash off city streets.
“It’s always been our responsibility, each one of us, to properly dispose of our belongings and make our neighborhoods cleaner and safer,” Gallo said in a statement. “We also need to keep pressing for more enforcement of our laws around illegal dumping, so that people in other cities know that they can no longer come to Oakland to dump their unwanted materials.”
Added Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, “Now all Oaklanders need to do is pick up the phone and take advantage of these new free services!”
