HOUSTON – For the past two weeks, recycling delays have frustrated residents across the area. Many have been left wondering when their recycling cans would finally be emptied.
Yesterday, KPRC 2’s Daniella Guzman visited a recycling center where residents said they had been driving around just to empty their own cans. But even that option became impossible due to long lines.
KPRC 2’s Joy Addison visited a neighborhood in Greater Heights where residents called the delay unacceptable.
Today, those residents finally got some relief from mounting trash piles.
Just minutes after the crew arrived around 1:30 p.m., a recycling truck serviced the street near Studewood and Wet Cottage.
Residents say they waited 43 days for today’s pickup. They raised concerns about public safety and health as the recycled materials sat outside, becoming wet from rain and then baking in the Texas sun and humidity.
“It’s terribly inconvenient for parking and what have you,” Cindy Burns, a local resident, said. “And then also, it is a health hazard because whether you want to know it or not, there are vermin and critters that live in the city and love our trash cans.”
Residents were finally able to put away their empty cans.
“It was about six weeks in the county, but y’all did an amazing job,” Burns added. “I know we’d been beating our chests and what have you, but Channel 2 got there and the exposure alone, I would have expected to see Mayor John here helping lift and tote and haul the green garbage cans. It was great.”
Screenshots from other neighborhoods near Memorial Hermann, Norhill, Third Ward, and Woodland Heights show pickups are happening there as well. However, residents say yard waste still hasn’t been collected.
With the Independence Day holiday approaching, many fear another recycling pickup delay.
“With the holiday season, it’s always hard because then they have to make up two days and one or something,” Burns said. “So, we might have another little hickey poo around July 4th.”
People said they were putting cans out every morning for over 40 days hoping that day was the day for their pickup. The City of Houston’s Solid Waste Management Department said they do not have an interactive map that will show when your pickup is happening.
