Complaints about trash pickups in Nashville decline in March

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - Metro Water Services received over 6,500 complaints in February about trash not being picked up, an ongoing issue homeowners said they have been experiencing for months.

“It was that they would like a day or two late and then sometimes three or four days late,” David Binkley said.

“We had a run there where probably 50% of the time we had to call after the trash day to get them to come pick it up, then they cut off the recycling,” East Nashville resident George Hadock said.

This continuous garbage collection issue is why the city brought on more contractors.

Since bringing on more crews at the beginning of March, there have been 793 reports, which is a big improvement from the 6,567 complaints received in February.

“Soon after having additional crews come in we were able to get caught up,” Metro Water Services Strategic Communications Manager Sonia Allman said.

Allman said having extra help is something they plan to continue.

“We want to look at lessons we’ve learning in going forward making sure that we have multiple contractors spread across so if something happens or a fleet goes down, or they lose staffing, other groups can step in.”

Red River has been responsible for 73% of the city’s trash collection. Since its crews kept falling behind, Red River’s routes have been nearly cut in half since bringing on additional help. Allman said Red River used to make about 21 routes a day. Now it has about 12 routes. The Waste Management Green Team is helping to make up the difference.

Metro Water Services said finding trash trucks to help pick up the slack has been a challenge.

“One of the issues that’s going on right now is because of COVID and everything going on, finding fleet and repair parts for fleet has been very difficult, not only for Metro Water Services but also contractors,” Allman said.

Even though the additional vendors have helped, there are still reports of trash sitting out for too long. People who live on Blanton Avenue, near Murfreesboro Pike, are wondering when their trash will be picked up.

Some neighbors told News4 their trash has not been picked up for about a week and a half.

If your trash hasn’t been picked up on time, you can dial 311 or 615-862-5000 to report it. You can also file a complaint online at Hub Nashville.

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