Crews deliver the first batch of trash and recycling carts to homes on Palmer Street Aug. 18. The new carts will be required for curbside pickup in Madison Heights beginning Oct. 6.
By: Andy Kozlowski | Madison-Park News | Published August 27, 2025
MADISON HEIGHTS — The city of Madison Heights recently began the rollout of new high-capacity carts for trash and recycling.
Beginning Oct. 6, the carts will be required for curbside pickup, although residents who are physically unable to move the carts can contact the city for a special exemption where sanitation workers will walk up to their home, retrieve the cart, empty it and return it.
To add your home address to the exemption list, call the Department of Public Services at (248) 589-2294.
During a kickoff ceremony Aug. 18 at the bandshell in Civic Center Park, officials touted the program as a historic expansion of the city’s recycling efforts — the largest of its kind in the city’s 70-year history.
“This project is about more than just waste management. It’s about investing in our community, supporting local jobs with carts made here in Michigan … and protecting our environment for future generations,” said Madison Heights Mayor Roslyn Grafstein, in her speech.
“Recycling is more than a good habit. It is a commitment to keeping Madison Heights and Michigan beautiful, healthy and sustainable,” Grafstein said. “And starting today, our city is taking another big step toward that vision.”
The new arrangement will save residents an estimated $200,000 each year for the next five years as part of a contract with waste hauler Priority Waste, which offers a discount for cities that switch to a carts-only model since the carts are easier for pickup crews to process.
Each household in Madison Heights will receive one 96-gallon trash cart and one 64-gallon recycling cart, each branded with the city’s logo. The carts are wheeled for ease of movement and feature secure lids to keep waste in and vermin out.
In total, more than 10,300 homes will receive the new carts, which arrive free of charge. At press time, it was expected every home will have them by the second week of September.
The manufacturer is Cascade Cart Solutions, in Grand Rapids, the state’s only maker of trash and recycling carts. As an added bonus, each cart is made with 10% recycled material.
The carts are a $1.1 million investment for the city, with nearly half the cost covered by a $403,200 grant from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. In addition, Madison Heights received a $105,600 grant from The Recycling Partnership.
Officials say the expected $1 million in savings over the course of the five-year contract will quicken the return on investment while also increasing the city’s rate of recycling from roughly 1,000 tons per year to 1,500 tons per year, an increase of 50%.
For recycling, accepted materials include plastic bottles and containers, aluminum and steel cans, glass bottles and jars, flattened cardboard, and all colors and types of newspaper, junk mail and other paper products.
Priority Waste will only pick up approved carts. Overflow material can be handled through special pickups or by purchasing extra carts. The waste hauler will collect one bulk item per week at no additional charge on the regular collection day.
City Councilman Quinn Wright said the program is a great addition to the city’s services.
“I think it’s going to be helpful to residents as they get acclimated to it. I think they’ll come to find it solves multiple problems, one of which has been rodents in some areas, since these cans are specifically designed to keep them out,” Wright said.
“The other exciting part is this will increase our ability to recycle,” he said. “We know there was an income barrier before where some couldn’t afford the bins, but now that they have it, they can recycle more items. It can even be an opportunity to take their existing trash cans that they no longer need and turn them into reusable compost bins.”
Mayor Pro Tem Mark Bliss was originally opposed to the city funding the program, and he still is, since he feels the funds could’ve been better spent elsewhere. However, he said he tried to see the silver lining in the arrangement and agreed to the carts-only model once he was assured that less-able-bodied residents would be accommodated.
“My position was that if the city is going to save a couple hundred thousand dollars each year with a carts-only model, they needed to reinvest a portion of those savings so that residents with disabilities — or even just those aging and unable to pull a 40-pound cart out to the curb — would also benefit and not be left behind. My stance (against the program) softened because that help was included and is available to all residents now,” Bliss said.
“Any resident with any type of physical limitation can use this extra service, free of charge. They just register with the city and tell the city where the cart will be located, like the side of their house or out back, and the worker will handle it from there,” he said.
Bliss said he feels that the assistance program is an example of government working for its people.
“Especially in the polarizing environment we live in now, it’s very rare to see compromise taking place in government, but this is a perfect example of why it’s necessary,” Bliss said. “I do genuinely applaud staff and my peers on council for listening to my concerns and then crafting (the assistance program) as part of the final proposal.”