HOUSTON – Months-old piles of heavy trash continue to frustrate Houston residents, but city officials say help is finally on the way.
After widespread complaints and failing service grades, the City of Houston has announced the rollout of a new fleet of solid waste trucks and a revamped system designed to improve both recycling and heavy trash pickup.
What’s Changing?
Houston’s Solid Waste Department is deploying 25 brand-new vehicles, including:
- One grappler truck
- Five tractor-trailers dedicated to heavy trash collection
Officials say these trucks are replacing older vehicles that frequently broke down, contributing to missed pickups and long delays.
“Our goal is on-time collection for every Houston resident,” the department said in a statement. “Vehicles will rotate across routes to ensure service across the board.”
The Problem: Months of Missed Pickups
In neighborhoods like Southwest Houston, residents say they’ve gone four to five months without a single heavy trash pickup.
“We pay for this service through our taxes. If the roles were reversed and trash sat on our property for this long, we’d be fined,” one resident told KPRC 2, requesting anonymity due to HOA concerns.
Solid Waste says only one pickup has been missed, but it’s site notes a delay.
Many of these communities are littered with:
- Rotting furniture
- Termite-infested wood
- Old household items dumped curbside
These eyesores aren’t just inconvenient— residents say they’re affecting property values and neighborhood morale.
The City’s Own Data Shows Trouble
According to the City’s 3-1-1 tracker:
- Solid Waste has completed just over 50% of heavy trash pickups on time over the past year
- There are currently 580+ overdue service complaints
- The service has earned a failing grade (“F”) in the city’s internal database
🔄 A New System in the Works
To address ongoing frustrations, city leaders say they are developing a new scheduling system that would allow residents to book their own heavy trash pickups, rather than rely solely on the preset monthly schedule.
Currently, heavy trash is scheduled for pickup on the second Wednesday of every month—a system that clearly hasn’t been keeping up.
🗣️ Community Voices: “It Drops Our Property Value”
Frustrated neighbors have taken to community forums like Nextdoor, sharing images and concerns over the ongoing trash pileups.
“People come into our communities looking to buy homes, and this is the first thing they see,” one homeowner said. “It’s not a good look, and it’s definitely hurting property values.”
✅ What’s Next?
With new trucks hitting the streets and a resident-driven pickup system in development, city leaders hope these changes will bring long-overdue relief to Houston neighborhoods.
Still, the success of the new plan will depend on execution—and residents will be watching closely.