By Louis Zylka
The 830 Times
The fourth citywide cleanup of the year will take place at the Joe Ramos Center, 1105 W. De La Rosa St., on Saturday, Nov. 22.
Citywide cleanups, held three or four times a year, are put together by the city with Platform Waste Solutions, the city’s current waste management company. The public event gives the opportunity for people to easily dispose of excess amounts of waste and debris close to home without the need to drive to the city’s landfill.
The cleanup events are free of charge, and citizens can return multiple times to dispose of more waste.
Citizens can bring trash to the Joe Ramos Center from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and they must bring proof of identification (ID) and either a current water bill or trash bill. Staff from Platform Waste Solutions will be on site to direct traffic and help unload materials.
Jose Huerta, general manager at Platform Waste Solutions, said Del Rio has conducted citywide cleanups for over 15 years. He said Platform Waste Solutions had been helping with the cleanups for three years before acquiring Red River Waste Solutions, the city’s previous waste management company.
Citizens are allowed to bring broken bushes, limbs from trees, household trash, white goods, stoves, washers, dryers, lawn mowers, bicycles and building materials. Rene Maldonado, the city’s landfill coordinator, said the citywide cleanups are a great opportunity for people to get rid of trash, especially building materials lying around their properties.
“On regular days, we charge those items (at the landfill). This is one of the times for people to get rid of trash, and we have (the cleanups) four times a year, quarterly, and it is free to dispose of trash when cleaning out your garages and backyards. This is what we hope everybody can take advantage of, especially before the holidays,” Maldonado said.
Citizens are not allowed to bring tires, electronics, car batteries, paints, automotive liquids, air conditioning (AC) units, refrigerators, central processing units (CPUs) or any other items with built-in circuit boards. Maldonado said the landfill, 1897 Railway Ave., does accept tires and has a drop-off point for used motor oil, oil filters and radiator fluids.
Maldonado also said CPUs, TVs and other electronics can be dropped off at the city’s recycling center, which is located at 1409 E. Gibbs St., and is open from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Huerta said that there will be over 20 staff members from Platform Waste Solutions at the site to help unload materials. He said the staff’s primary goal is to help people “get in and out as quickly as possible.”
Maldonado said the previous citywide cleanups during the year had good turnouts, and he saw people bring out different items, including broken branches, unused toys and clothes, and various debris. Maldonado hopes to see the cleanups continue to grow in the future and expand in other areas in the city.
