Talking trash — Brem Air returns to Bremerton

Even though Bremerton’s last garbage service change was wrought with 289 missed pick ups in the first month, the changeover to new service on Sept. 1 should be seamless, according to managers at both companies.

Brem Air Disposal, a subsidiary of Waste Management Inc., takes over for current provider Kitsap Disposal.

Kitsap Disposal won a bid on the contract in January 2002, and struggled through the first six months of operation to maintain an organized pick up schedule. They eventually improved to only five misses monthly.

They are handing the four-year contract over to Brem Air in exchange for contracts in the Seattle area.

Waste Management is the main service provider in the Kitsap Peninsula.

They serviced Bremerton’s roughly 8,700 single-family, 180 multi-family and 800 commercial customers for twenty years previously.

With 389 vehicles converted from diesel fuel to clean-burning natural gas, Waste Management operates one of the nation’s largest collections of heavy-duty trucks powered by natural gas.

“Brem Air is happy to be back,” said Terry Bickel, the district manager for the company. “We feel like we are part of the community.”

Kitsap Disposal site manager Mark Caputo said the transition should be seamless.

Caputo sent Waste Management detailed route lists for every driver in the order it should be picked up.

Waste Management has hired three of Kitsap Disposal’s drivers, so they already know the routes.

Caputo said one of the biggest problems when they started service is they were only provided an alphabetical list of all customers.

No route list.

No pickup order.

Bickel will use the route lists that Kitsap Disposal spent its first six months organizing.

Caputo said the route lists he gave Waste Management are “in the upper 90 percentile accurate.”

Customers that complained about missed pick ups like Dennis Asleson on Lafayette Street say they welcome the change back.

He had built up a friendship with his Brem Air driver, and didn’t have any missed pickups until Kitsap Disposal started service.

“I was more than satisfied with them,” he said, of Brem Air.

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