You'll soon get a bill for your trash pickup in Denver

Starting next year, people in Denver will pay directly for trash pickup.

Why it matters: Homeowners have indirectly paid for these services for years through taxes, but they'll now have to choose from three bin sizes with different pricing.

• The Denver City Council voted Monday night to approve the new fee system, which will make recycling and composting free for residents.
• The city's trash pickup currently serves about 180,000 customers.

Details: People will choose between three tiers in the new system:

• Small ($9 a month) includes a 35-gallon trash cart, holding about two to three tall kitchen bags.
• Medium ($13 a month) includes a 65-gallon trash cart, holding about four to five tall kitchen bags.
• Large ($21 a month) includes a 95-gallon trash cart, holding about seven to eight tall kitchen bags.

The big picture: The new fees aim to improve the city's diversion rate — the amount of material recycled or composted — and reduce landfill waste, which produces greenhouse gases.

• The new system will allow the city to have weekly recycling pickup (it's currently biweekly).
• Denver must add 15 trucks and 22 drivers.

What's next: City transportation and infrastructure spokesperson Nancy Kuhn tells Axios Denver that the bills will be implemented on a phase-in basis, which means not everyone will get them at the same time.