Towns and residents experiencing trash troubles with Republic Services Date: 7/1/2022 WESTERN MASS. – Trash removal is an aspect of modern day life that is only noticed when something goes wrong. Recently, municipalities and individual residents who have contracted with the national waste hauling company Republic Services have noticed.
People have experienced inconsistent trash pickup. Aside from inconvenience, trash left out for hours or overnight can attract animals and become a health hazard.
In Monson, residents have been experiencing issues with trash pickup. For a few weeks, Town Administrator Jennifer Wolowicz said they have received “a steady stream of complaints.”
“We have had some delays with the pickups, and we have been in contact with Republic quite frequently to address the situation. They have had equipment breakdowns as well as staff shortages,” said Wolowicz.
She continued, “We understand that timely and consistent trash and recycling pickups are important to our community, and we have been working diligently with Republic Services to ensure that they provide the services that the community expects.”
Moving forward, Wolowicz said the current manual collection will transition to automated cart service sometime during the next contract year once vehicles and carts are available for delivery. This will include a 65-gallon trash barrel and a 95-gallon recycling barrel.
East Longmeadow has also contracted with Republic Services for several years and experienced the same problems as other towns throughout late May and early June.
“The trash pickup has been inconsistent,” said Town Manager Mary McNally. “Republic had problems with some of their trucks being down and some [staffing] issues.”
Despite having signed a contract with Casella Waste Systems for the new fiscal year, the company was unable to begin work until July 1. In the meantime, McNally said the town had done everything in its power to ease the situation for residents. Department of Public Works (DPW) Director Bruce Feeney, DPW Deputy Superintendent Tom Christianson and Highway and Utilities Manager Darrell Keane even picked up trash in their personal trucks from several streets that had not been serviced during the week of June 13. Two dumpsters at the transfer station were made available Monday through Friday.
McNally said Republic had worked through most of its challenges regarding East Longmeadow service by the end of June. “We had hoped they’d come through with reliable service in the last few weeks of the contract and they seem to have done that,” she said.
In Ware, Town Manager Stuart Beckley said the town does not contract for trash services. Each individual home decides on their haulers.
Recently, Beckley said several residents have expressed frustration with Republic Services. He noted that when someone has a complaint, they call the Board of Health directly.
Beckley shared that the Ware Board of Health heard from the operations manager in Chicopee, that Republic has been down a driver which pushed them behind a week. Since then, Republic Services has caught up and will continue weekly trash pickup. Recycle pickup was also delayed but has continued operations and will continue bi-weekly pickup.
“We are thankful for the Health Department taking initiative in finding out and getting everything back on track,” said Beckley.
Reminder Publishing reached out to Republic Services and a media representative responded with the following statement.
“We experienced staffing shortages as well as unforeseen maintenance issues, which resulted in some delays in some Massachusetts communities. We are working diligently to get caught up with all the routes, but we apologize for the delay. Republic Services of Central and Western Massachusetts is proud to serve all of our communities, and we thank them for their patience.”
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