Raleigh rolling out leaf-vacuum trucks to collect from single-family homes

Leaves have been falling in force, and the city on Monday cranked up its loose-leaf collection for single-family houses.

The Solid Waste Services Department would prefer, however, that piling up leaves for collection be residents’ last choice.

Each residence gets two shots at the loose-leaf service, and people need to have leaves ready when their area is scheduled, the city said in an alert issued Saturday.

Loose-leaf collection schedules are on the city’s website. People can enter their addresses on that page and find out when their collections are.

The service is only for people who do their own yard work, and it is in addition to the weekly yard waste collection that employs containers and bags.

Leaf piles have to be ready by 7 a.m. on the first day of collection and be 6 feet or less from the pavement so equipment can reach them. The city made a point of telling people not to sweep leaves into the street.

“Due to the nature of this type of collection, this option is the least frequent, the least efficient and the most expensive, so residents are urged to try the other options first, if possible,” the city statement said.

The other options include using mowers to mulch leaves in place, composting, having landscape companies collect leaves and haul them away and parceling out leaves in containers for the weekly yard-waste service.

This story was originally published November 6, 2017 at 10:21 AM with the headline "Raleigh rolling out leaf-vacuum trucks to collect from single-family homes."