DURANT, Okay. (KXII) – Until the end of December 2024, residents of Durant, OK could register for “additional transport», a free collection service for large waste, to be collected on the first Wednesday of each month. Phillip Hightower, Durant’s public works director, says in recent months it’s become a burden.

“This has grown to an extremely large extent over the past couple of months, making the solid waste division’s daily operations much more difficult,” Hightower said.

The additional traffic started with 100 to 150 names on the list, but has almost doubled.

“He went over 450,” Hightower said. “And that’s a lot to try and acquire in one day.” We’ve had to extend our days to collect everything, and that, along with labor and equipment, affects daily operations.

The city is hosting “bulky waste events” starting in January 2025. Transferable containers will be placed throughout the city, twice a year, in April and November, to replace monthly bulk pickups every Wednesday.

Hightower says Wednesday’s extra haul day has started to spill over into Thursday and sometimes Friday, making it a normal trash day, more like “waste week.” One of the two locations where the spring and fall roll-offs will take place is Durant Pool, next to Carl Albert Park. The second location is to be determined.

Bulk items include, but are not limited to, the following:

“Leaves, furniture, appliances, anything people can’t usually carry in a car, yard waste, mostly branches and leaves,” Hightower said.

And if you have extra bulk items to throw away outside of the two events per year, two items can earn you an extra free deposit.

“If you take your water bill to the dump with your ID and show it to them, you get a free dump every month,” Hightower said.

The city expects the new system to end delayed or missed trash days on Thursdays, but if you have even more bulk items to dispose of throughout the month, Hightower says the city will still help you , for a fee.

“We will come pick it up for a fee that is currently on our fee schedule for the city of Durant,” Hightower said.

For details on per-ton pricing for furniture, appliances or items containing Freon, call the city’s public works office.

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