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Dear Noise Project supporter,
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You’re receiving this message because you’ve indicated that you’ve experienced noise from early-morning garbage and recycling collection. If you prefer not to receive further messages on this issue, please let us know and we’ll remove you from that specific list.
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The Noise Project categorizes noise from early-morning garbage / recycling collection under our Commercial Noise program, which also includes landscaping companies that continue to use gas-powered equipment and commercial entertainment venues such as bars, clubs, and restaurants that recurrently violate the city’s sound-level limits.
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It is not among the most prevalent sources of noise in Providence — which are vehicle noise (by a large margin) such as modified mufflers and over-amplified audio systems, and residential noise such as house parties and fireworks — but residents do cite it on an ongoing basis, and it also stands out from other sources by being a city-contracted service that is allowed to ignore the noise ordinance with the complicity of PVD itself.
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Providence recently extended its long-running contract with Waste Management (WM) for another five years, with an option for an additional two years after that. Older versions of WM’s contract stipulated that residential collection start no earlier that 6:30 a.m. — itself a violation of PVD’s 10:00 p.m.–7:00 a.m. “nighttime” noise limit of 55 decibels — and the fines the city could apply if that restriction was violated. (We have found no indications that the city has ever fined WM for early collection.)
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However, WM told the Noise Project in 2025 that the city allowed it to start operating as early as 4:00 a.m., and the current agreement says it can start at 5:00 a.m. — or even earlier if authorized by the city to do so. So if you’ve blamed WM exclusively for the early waste-collection noise, you should recognize that in many if not most cases, it was doing so at the behest (or at least with the acquiescence) of the city itself.
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We’d like to hear from Providence residents who’ve experienced excessive noise from early-morning residential garbage / recycling collection. (Collection from commercial sources is allowed to start even earlier, as those who live near businesses can attest.) Among the information we’d like is the time of day, day of the week, noise duration, and noise source(s) — e.g., idling truck engines, lifting / dumping / returning bins, back-up beepers, personnel shouting, cars honking at trucks, or any other things.
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We’re particularly interested in collection operations prior to 4:00 a.m. (which we’ve documented), and now 5:00 a.m. In addition, we’d like to hear any other details or experiences you want to provide, including any interactions with collection personnel or contacts with the city or WM itself about early-morning collection noise. The PVD City Council was not unanimous on renewing WM’s contract, and if there are issues with its services, it may not remain the city’s sole-source waste / recycling collection contractor.
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One last thing: There’s a tendency for many Providence government officials and even residents to dismiss complaints about noise sources such as waste collection on the idea that “That’s just the way it is.” But sleep deprivation is a public-health epidemic in the U.S., with more than one out of three adults not getting adequate rest on regular basis, and such early waste-collection six days a week is disrupting the sleep of thousands of PVD residents. (Sunday may be equally noisy, albeit for other reasons.)
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Moreover, Mayor Smiley ran on a so-called “quality of life” platform (though excessive noise is far more than that, as he himself has acknowledged), and being woken up at 4:00 or 5:00 a.m. on a weekly basis does not conform to any definition of quality of life. PVD is already too loud during the day — there’s no reason it should be so loud at night, too. Rather than starting its waste and recycling collection in the early morning, WM should start later and add more trucks to its routes to complete collection faster.
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Let us know if you have any questions about city waste / recycling collection, residential noise limits, Noise Project programs and activities, or anything else noise-related.
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If you’d like to help the Noise Project address excessive noise from early garbage collection or other sources, please fill out our volunteer intake form. If you prefer to contribute in other ways, please contact us and let us know how you’d like to help.
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Thank you for supporting our efforts to create a quieter
and healthier PVD for all of its residents and visitors!
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“Noise is the New Smoking”
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