Waste Management offers hurricane preparedness tips

Waste Management Inc., Houston, has released hurricane tips in a July 27 blog post to prepare its customers for the upcoming hurricane season.

The blog post reveals tips for what to do with trash and recycling before a storm hits and after a storm goes through the area. The tips are as follows:

Before the storm

• Secure all loose items in case there are high winds
• Stopping all yard maintenance and tree trimming activities when there is a named storm with a predicted landfall
• Bundling and tying down all loose items, such as tree limbs, wood planks or building and roof tiles. Place these materials where debris cannot become hazardous to homes and automobiles
• Securing trash and recycling containers and placing empty containers in a secure location away from open spaces where winds are more likely to have an effect

WM says in the blog post that it will continue to collect household trash and recycling materials according to the designated schedules until a hurricane warning is issued for the area.

After the storm

• Be sure to separate regular household waste from storm debris. Everyday items like food, recyclables and other household waste should be treated as normal while storm debris, including tree limbs, soiled carpeting, damaged fencing and appliances, should be placed in separate curbside piles.
• Proper separation will allow WM to collect household waste more efficiently and safely and help prevent odors and other safety hazards from impacting the surrounding area. Separation is also necessary to allow other firms to collect storm debris in accordance with arrangements made by local municipalities, counties of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
• Check for the latest updates on storm recovery within the area by visiting www.wm.com/alerts

The company says in the event of a storm, it will restart normal curbside trash and recycling collection as soon as it is safe to do so.