Pelican: Garbage pickup going smoothly

Pelican Waste & Debris began collecting garbage Monday in the unincorporated areas of St. Mary, Berwick and Patterson, and the transition is going smoothly so far, according to a company official.
Pelican began delivering the new cans to St. Mary Parish residents Oct. 13, Pelican general manager Roddie Matherne said last month.
St. Mary Parish government, the town of Berwick and city of Patterson all entered into five-year garbage pickup contracts with Pelican. The contracts include an option to renew the agreement for three more years and receive new equipment and another two-year option to renew after that.
The parish, Berwick and Patterson had all previously had garbage collection contracts with Progressive Waste Solutions.
Progressive began Monday removing its old cans from unincorporated St. Mary, Berwick and Patterson, Progressive Operations Manager Jay Gunter said. Progressive has to have all of its old cans collected by Nov. 11.
Matherne said the company has a few more cans to put out on the outskirts of Charenton, but the transition this week has gone smoothly.
There are some other areas “here and there” that may have gotten missed getting new cans, but Pelican is taking care of any of those issues as company officials are made aware of them, Matherne said.
Pelican has delivered all commercial dumpsters to the St. Mary Parish government buildings where the dumpsters will be used, Matherne said.
Pelican hasn’t encountered any issues with customers doing things incorrectly, Matherne said.
“It’s been going really well. I think people are kind of used to those types of carts,” Matherne said.
Residents should make sure they place their new cans with the front of the cans facing the street as Pelican’s garbage pickup is fully automated, Matherne said in October.
Anyone with customer service questions or comments can contact Pelican at 337-907-6686.