Beginning July 6, each residence is set to receive one 95-gallon black cart for trash and one 95-gallon blue cart for recycling. Cart deliveries are expected to continue through July 25, according to the City of Midlothian. Residents may begin using the carts once they arrive, but the city’s new automated trash and recycling program officially begins Monday, Aug. 3. Under the new system, Waste Connections will use automated side-loading trucks for residential trash and recycling collection. The city is also asking residents to follow a few new cart rules. Trash must be bagged and placed inside the black cart, with the lid fully closed. Recycling should go loose into the blue cart — not bagged — and items should be empty and dry. Carts should be placed curbside or in the designated alley by 7 a.m. on service day or the night before, with wheels facing the house. The city says carts should be spaced three feet apart from each other and five feet away from cars, mailboxes or poles. Residents who want Waste Connections to discard old trash cans may leave them out for bulk pickup after Aug. 3, marked as trash. Old recycling bins may be kept or discarded. More details, including collection maps, recycling schedules and Waste Connections contact information, are available on the City of Midlothian website: https://www.midlothian.tx.us/1104/New-Automated-Trash-Recycling-Service