Long Beach – More than a handful of residents and business owners have told NBC Los Angeles that their trash or organics bins have gone uncollected for days, some even weeks. The city’s Collections Bureau acknowledges a recent dip in available refuse operators but maintains that the overall missed‑collection rate remains below the industry standard of 1%.
Business owners feel the impact
Michael Gillespie, who runs The Merchant in downtown Long Beach, said he initially believed the missed pickups were isolated to his store. “I honestly thought it was just us for the longest time,” he told reporters. When crews finally arrived, the bins were overflowing, and the crew refused to take the load, leaving Gillespie to load the trash into his own truck and haul it to the dump.
Gillespie called trash collection a basic city service and urged officials to hire more workers. “It’s not a good enough excuse to me. Hire more people if you have to. I know we’re in a severe budget crisis,” he said.
Residents cite health concerns
Long Beach resident Danica Sierra, a former waste‑management sales professional, reported that her organics bin went uncollected for a week, leaving food and yard waste to rot in the summer heat. “The natural order of organics is for it to decompose, not while you’re waiting for somebody to pick it up,” she said. Sierra warned that prolonged delays can attract rodents and other vermin, turning a sanitation issue into a public‑health risk.
She added that employee absences for illness or vacation are inevitable, but collection systems should have backup coverage. “If there’s somebody on vacation, then there should be somebody there to cover,” Sierra said.
City explains staffing shortfall
The city’s Energy and Environmental Services Department reports that the Collections Bureau has 114 budgeted refuse‑operator positions, all filled on paper. However, work‑related injuries and regular absences have created a 35%‑40% shortage in daily available staff over the past few weeks.
Despite the gap, officials say the missed‑collection rate remains below the 1% industry benchmark. On an average day the bureau runs 68 routes for refuse and organics, six days a week. Recent data show an average of four missed organics routes and one missed refuse route per day. When a route is missed, the city prioritizes it for collection the following morning.
City’s response and next steps
City officials say the situation has “vastly improved over the past two weeks” and expect normal service levels to resume before the end of August 2026. To address the staffing crunch, the bureau recently completed a recruitment drive for part‑time operators and is now seeking permanent, unbudgeted positions.
Residents with missed pickups are instructed to leave their bins out for the next day and may report the issue online after 6 p.m. on the scheduled service day or call the Refuse Hotline at 562‑570‑2876.
What residents can do now
While the city works to fill its staffing gaps, residents are encouraged to monitor collection schedules, report missed pickups promptly, and consider temporary private hauling if delays become prolonged. Community feedback continues to shape the bureau’s hiring efforts and service adjustments.
Original reporting: NBC4 Los Angeles — read the source article.
