Athens Services to begin trash, recycling and organics pickup in east Whittier Nov. 1; first invoice covers Nov.-Dec.

Athens Services will begin collecting trash, recycling and organics in the East side of Whittier on Saturday, Nov. 1, the company told the City Council Oct. 28. Vicky Martinez, representing Athens, detailed outreach and billing changes and answered operational questions from council members.

Martinez said the city and Athens sent a co-branded letter to customers, followed by postcards and robocalls. Customers will receive a first invoice covering November and December; starting in January, residential customers will be billed quarterly and commercial customers monthly. Martinez reminded customers that credit-card information for autopay does not transfer from the prior hauler and urged residents who want automatic payment to sign up with Athens.

Martinez described standard carts and service levels: a 64-gallon trash cart, a 96-gallon recycling cart and a 96-gallon organics cart. She said residents should expect to see Athens trucks collecting all three commodities beginning on the first service day after Nov. 1 and that the company has routed pickup to avoid school drop-off and pickup times. She also said the city and Athens plan additional communication during November and December about cart replacement logistics.

Martinez addressed cart delivery timing during the presentation. She initially mentioned a July 2026 cart transition but corrected the timeline in the meeting, saying residents should expect brand-new, city-branded carts beginning in January 2026 and that staff will provide more specific delivery dates by neighborhood.

Council members asked about safety routing near schools and the mechanics of swapping out old carts for new; Martinez said trucks will empty existing carts on service day and a separate crew will deliver new carts and collect the old ones shortly thereafter. She also warned that palm fronds should be placed in the trash cart because they are too fibrous for Athens' processing.

Operational notes and customer actions

- Service days and service levels will remain the same until further notice.
- The first Athens invoice covers November and December; residential billing moves to quarterly beginning in January 2026; commercial billing is monthly.
- Customers on autopay with their prior hauler must re-enroll with Athens; payment information did not transfer.
- Cart colors: trash (black), recycling (blue) and organics (green); organics include yard and food waste.
- Palm fronds should be placed in the trash cart because they cannot be processed as organics by Athens.

The council thanked Athens and city staff for outreach materials and asked staff to continue communicating with affected residents and commercial businesses during the transition period.