Norwalk solid-waste rollout shows early drop in curbside tonnage; residents, council seek more outreach and odor fixes

Norwalk Public Works Committee members were told on Oct. 7 that curbside garbage tonnage dipped sharply after the city’s new trash-and-recycling rollout, and staff said complaints and extra-bin requests have declined as residents adapt.

The city’s solid-waste operations manager, Tom (staff member), said curbside tonnage for August was about 12% lower than the same month last year and that recycling tonnage also fell — a change he attributed in part to removal of larger condominium accounts from curbside service and to behavior changes among households. "As we got into August, things started to really kind of improve," Tom said, adding that extra-bin requests have been under 200 so far and that most households appear served by the standard 65-gallon cart.

The drop in tonnage is one of several metrics staff offered to the Public Works Committee to show the program is stabilizing after July’s heavy public attention. Staff said they are tracking calls and complaints through the city’s customer-service system, are meeting biweekly with the vendor Wind…