Denver is getting rid of the large trash bins in alleys that have plagued residents, who have complained for more than a year about problems that include graffiti, illegal dumping and the associated clean-up costs.

The city’s trash collection service is phasing in a cart-based system for about 20,000 Denver residents this summer, with plans to expand next year. The plastic wheeled trash cans eliminate the bins as well as manual pick-up.

“Basically we’re running three different types of collection. Not only is that not efficient, it’s not equitable,” said Charlotte Pitt, operations manager of Solid Waste Management— a section of Denver Public Works.

The department will begin to phase out the trash bins in Barnum, Barnum West, Westwood, Globeville and Elyria-Swansea neighborhoods. The change will also hit portions of Washington Park, Cory-Merrill, Platt Park, East Colfax and Park Hill.

In Westwood — between Federal and Sheridan boulevards and Mississippi and Alameda avenues — residents have access to all three types of service, but the large trash bins have been a problem for some time.

“Illegal dumping in Westwood is absolutely atrocious,” Westwood Residents Association co-president Michelle Schoen said.

Schoen’s home has the cart service and she said she likes it. She added that both adjacent blocks have different services.

Pitt said that Solid Waste Management had hoped to implement the new program in 2010, but when the economic crisis hit, there was no funding. Public Works presented the plan at the Land Use, Transit and Infrastructure Committee meeting on Tuesday.

The city is purchasing some new trash trucks this year as part of its budget. Pitt said that unlike the trucks equipped for bins and manual pickup, Denver’s new trucks will pick up carts. Pitt said her department needed about $850,000 to buy wheeled carts to distribute to residents. The plan is to begin the implementation in July and wrap-up by November. The hope is to spread the residential program city-wide in the future if funding is available.

The standard issue cart is a 95-gallon container, but Pitt said 65-gallon and 35-gallon containers are available.

Denver provides free trash service to all single-family homes.

The city has tested the program on the west side of the city at the urging of District 3 City Councilman Paul Lopez, who said bins in alleys have been a big problem in his district.

“Dumpsters constantly need maintenance, doors end up missing, you have to paint them because of graffiti. It takes a lot of resources to try and eliminate that,” he said.

Another issue with the with bins is the illegal dumping that occurs as people drop off their large items that Solid Waste Management isn’t equipped to pick up, such as furniture or construction debris.

“We see in the Dumpster areas an incredible amount of illegal dumping and misuse of service,” Pitt said.

Westwood resident Bob Duran’s home borders an alley, and he uses a bin for his trash service. He said there is illegal dumping about once a month and it’s a magnet for graffiti taggers, but he hopes this program works as a deterrent.

“I think it’s a good idea. Hopefully maybe this will encourage people to get the recycling Dumpsters,” Duran said.

Solid Waste Management will begin community outreach in the weeks prior to an area’s implementation. Pitt said officials will start with flyers in the mail and have community meetings.

“It’s been our radar and we are pretty excited about it,” Pitt said. Change in the community is always hard, and trash is a hot-button issue.”

Joe Vaccarelli: 303-954-2396, jvaccarelli@denverpost.com or twitter.com/joe_vacc