Annual Spring Cleanup for 2024 Proves to be Hit with City Residents as Near Record Tonnage is Collected
By Connect-Bridgeport Staff on June 17, 2024
It appears the annual City of Bridgeport Spring Cleanup that ran May 13 through May 24 was once again a success. In fact, it is likely the second most material ever picked up since the program began in 2018.
“This year we saw a lot more tonnage of items picked up. That reversed a trend of years where we saw the numbers drop,” said Bridgeport Community Development Director Andrea Kerr.
“This year the cleanup saw 92 tons of items picked up by Waste Management,” said Kerr. That is well above the totals for the last several years.”
The highest number ever? Kerr said the city was just short of seeing 100 tons picked up in the initial year of the program.
“It has been a slow decline from there,” said Kerr. “My guess is that first year saw the people that were wanting to participate get rid of most of their items and did not need to get rid of anything, or not nearly as much, in the following years. I’m not sure why there was a jump, but there was, which means people still want and need this service.”
The two-week span for the event, which usually take place in May, sees the city contract with Waste Management to provide the service. The service covers every neighborhood in the community.
There is a charge for the service. And it is paid for with tax dollars.
“The city pays a fee for the service,” said Kerr. “This year it was $18,900.” The fee is based on the tonnage collected and deposited at the landfill.
Kerr said she is confident the annual program will continue. She pointed to the program providing residents an avenue to rid homes of unwanted items, many of them too big to haul away or cost prohibitive.
“It’s a great service that I don’t believe will be stopped anytime soon because these are the types of events Council has seen as a needed service to the community,” Kerr said. “When this has been placed into my budget annually, it has never been questioned one time.”
