Brush Collection Slowed by Volume and Late Spring

The Streets Division is faced with a seventy percent (70%) increase in the volume of brush it is collecting this year. The volume of material has caused delays in brush collection throughout the City of Madison. "So far this year we have collected 2,700 tons of brush," Madison recycling coordinator George Dreckmann said. "Last year at this time we had picked up just over 1,500 tons. This is a 70% increase in the material we have collected." This increase in material was due, in part, to tree and shrub damage last winter. While some of that material was collected in January, quite a bit has been coming out this spring. Brush collection has also been delayed due to the late start to the spring leaf and garden waste collection. "We usually start our spring leaf and garden waste collection the first week of April," Dreckmann said. "Because of the late thaw we delayed leaf collection by two weeks. We are generally able to divert staff form leaf collection to brush collection at the start of May. Because of the late start on leaves we have only now been able to assign more staff to brush." "Normally, we are able to complete a round of brush collection for the entire city in three to four weeks," Dreckmann said. "This spring we have only just begun our second round of collection after eight weeks." "The slow progress has made it difficult to predict when we will be collecting brush in any given neighborhood," Dreckmann said. "Our web site is generally very reliable in its predictions of our progress. However, this season I have not been very accurate in the projections. This has lead to some understandable frustration on the part of the public and for that I apologize."

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