ShawneeDispatch.com

Don't be surprised when that seventh bag of trash remains at the end of the driveway on the next day of garbage pick-up.

As part of an ongoing sustainability effort, Deffenbaugh Industries this week began enforcing a longstanding limit on the number of bags collected from residential customers and has lowered that number by four.

Previously, the company's policy called for the collection of 10 bags of waste per house. Under the revised policy, Deffenbaugh will collect six bags of household waste, as well as six bags of yard waste per week in cities where an existing yard waste program is not already in place. The limit only applies to Deffenbaugh customers.

"I realize that it was inconsistently enforced, but we always had a 10-bag limit per house," company spokesman Tom Coffman said in a release. "We're trying to be flexible as we work to meet the waste diversion goals of the Johnson County solid waste management plan and meet the sustainability expectations of our customers. Waste diversion encourages recycling."

The Johnson County waste management plan early this year calls for efforts to encourage a reduction in the amount of waste filling the landfill in order to prolong the landfill's life and keep garbage disposal costs low. The plan suggests going to a volume-based waste collection rate structure, or a "pay-as-you-throw" system, by 2013-17.

Deffenbaugh recently spent more than $1 million on new routing software, and the company has purchased 112 new vehicles for its collection and support fleets in an effort to improve operating efficiencies.

"We are implementing operational changes to reduce fuel usage as well as attempting to divert waste to conserve landfill space," Coffman said. "At the same time, we still must collect the trash from 450,000 residential customers this week."

As always, Deffenbaugh will continue to collect unlimited quantities of acceptable recyclable material. For solutions to related solid waste needs, contact Deffenbaugh Industries at (913) 631-3300.