Toledo's gradual citywide switch to automated refuse pickup begins Monday for about 7,000 households, and the Finkbeiner administration is hoping for a smooth start.

But city officials don't expect the transition to be perfect.

"There are going to be some hiccups," said Tim Elliott, a refuse collector and 23-year veteran for the city. "This is a major undertaking that is totally transforming operations, and hopefully we can minimize problems."

After a 10,000-home pilot program last year, a fair amount of political wrangling earlier this year, and $9.67 million to buy two refuse containers for every household, and $12.2 million more to buy 40 automated garbage trucks, the program that is supposed to eventually save Toledo millions is officially under way.

"When I drove a truck for the pilot program, on the very first day, I had people cussing at me and telling me that this idea is stupid," Mr. Elliott said.

"But then I had a lot of those same people within three weeks saying how great it was and that they loved it. So like anything, people don't like change, but we soon had a really high satisfaction rate - above 90 percent," he said.

A gray container will be for trash and a blue one will be for all recyclable material.

Eventually, every Toledo household will have two 96-gallon containers, unless they specifically request 64-gallon or 48-gallon sizes in advance.

The new trucks are equipped with an automated side arm to lift and dump the containers' contents and require a single driver rather than a three-person crew.

The city expects to fully automate its trash collection by the end of March - almost two years after Mayor Carty Finkbeiner first said the city would make the switch.

Julian Highsmith, Toledo's solid waste commissioner, said 14,000 containers will be delivered each week until every household in the city has two each.

"Some people that have gotten them already have requested different sizes, but we have expressed that we will not be changing sizes until we get the whole program rolled out," Mr. Highsmith said.

The city expects to save money not only from having fewer trash collectors but also from fewer injury claims from those who remain because the new trucks do all the heavy lifting.

The automated trucks' introduction is occurring when many of the city's aging trucks need replacement anyway, Mr. Highsmith said. Thirty were purchased in 2002, and some date to 1995.

Robert F. Cramer, who lives on 138th Street at the corner of Edgewater Drive in Point Place, said having a large container dedicated for plastics, cardboard, glass, and cans will make it easier to recycle.

"The only thing I don't like is on holidays and for spring cleanup, I have a lot of bags, so I don't know how that is going to work out with just the one can," Mr. Cramer, 70, said. "But the city says if we have more bags than can fit in your can, then they will make a separate run to get them. But who knows."

Residents who have large items for pickup must call the city a day before their normal collection day.

The special trash and recycling containers remain the city's property but are assigned to specific addresses through imbedded radio-frequency identification chips.

Tenants and homeowners are not supposed to take the containers with them when they move, said Megan Robson, a city spokesman.

"The container is to stay at the original location, and they will assume responsibility for the container at their new residence," Mrs. Robson said.

Recycling is expected to skyrocket with the new program, said Bill Franklin, the city's public service director.

More than half of Toledo's households participate in the city's curbside recycling program - up from about 17 percent in 2007.

Ninety-six percent of the 10,000 homes in the city's automated garbage truck pilot program were recycling.

Part of the citywide increase from 2007 to 2009 was encouraged by trash-collection fees the city put in place that offer a deep recycling discount.

Toledo's monthly refuse fee is $8.50 for those who don't recycle and $1 for those who do.

Beginning May 1, 2010, the fee is supposed to increase to $10 a month for those who don't recycle and drops to zero for those who participate in curbside recycling.

Last month, Mr. Finkbeiner suggested Toledo City Council increase the monthly trash fee to $16 to help balance the city's 2010 budget.

Contact Ignazio Messina at:

imessina@theblade.com

or 419-724-6171.

First Published December 7, 2009, 9:36 p.m.