Waiting on waste: Albuquerque's trash can dilemma
Nov. 9—The trash keeps piling up.
There's a backlog of nearly 2,000 homes in Albuquerque waiting for residential trash can replacements, said Solid Waste Management spokesperson Alex Bukoski.
"This is a supply chain issue," Bukoski said. " ... We don't have a hard date yet from the supplier."
Bukoski added the city receives roughly 2,900 to 3,000 requests for a new trash cans each month. He said he wasn't sure if calls have increased due to outstanding requests for replacement cans.
One of the two companies contracted by the city for trash cans, North Carolina-based Toter, sells to residents, governments and retailers. According to a customer service representative, pricing for the trash can varies. Ninety-six gallon, two-wheel carts sell for roughly $120, depending on the retailer.
The city of Albuquerque pays $64.64 per Toter bin and $53.53 for each Otto bin.
During a City Council meeting, Councilor Klarissa Peña questioned Mayor Tim Keller's administration and Solid Waste Management Department about the delay after one of her constituents, Christopher Sedillo, reached out to express his concerns.
According to Sedillo, he had been waiting more than a month for a replacement on his trash can, with no set date as to when he could expect to receive it.
Sedillo, who ran against Peña for City Council in 2017, said he noticed the wheels to his trash can were missing on Sept. 12.
"They hit the thing so hard when they set it down that they broke the wheels off of it," Sedillo said. "I had to carry it because it had no wheels. It was cracked on the sides so if I put loose stuff in it when they dumped it, it would be all over the road."
When he called the city's Community Contact Center, 311, he was told he would have to speak to the Solid Waste Management Department.
The following day, the department called, stating they would replace the trash can, but it would take 35 days to receive a replacement.
"All the trucks have cameras for safety and to make sure we can go back and review how the drivers are driving," Bukoski said.
Not too long after, Sedillo said his recycling can was broken by recycling trucks. This time, it would take 38 days to replace the recycling can. Sedillo would go from Sept. 12 to Oct. 25 without a replacement.
"When they lifted it to put it into the truck, they pushed too hard and cracked all the sides of it," he said.
Sedillo texted Peña after realizing councilors would hold a meeting on Oct. 7, alerting her to the issues he has been facing with Solid Waste.
"During the meeting, my city councilor texted me and said Waste Management will be contacting you tomorrow," Sedillo said. "Sure enough, Waste Management contacted me the next morning and by noon, my recycling bin was replaced."
Sedillo received his recycling cart two days later.
That was 10 days sooner than he was told the recycling can arrived, and he believes it was his connection with city councilors that sped up the process.
"The underlying issue is, I think they got new truck drivers and I don't know if they train them right or not, but they're breaking them (garbage cans) at an alarming rate."
Residents waiting on trash cans will be served on a first-come, first-served basis. The Solid Waste Management Department received two orders on Oct. 30, totaling 1,248 garbage carts.
The city's contract with Toter, which is renewed annually, began on June 15 and runs through June 14, 2025.
The other option residents have for trash cans is Otto, which are made by Duramax Holding. That contract began Aug. 14, 2023, and runs through March 31, 2026.
Bukoski said the trash cans are the same make, model and design they have been for years. However, some residents have noticed a difference in new trash cans, claiming there have been variations of colors and a change in durability.
"The only thing that differs is the colors for waste and recycling," he said.
Bukoski said the department has struggled to hire and retain staff in recent years, particularly for bin delivery, though "through our rapid-hire summer event series, and we were able to actually get openings down to the lowest they've been in more than years."
"We were short for quite a while in our bin delivery department, just with staffing issues that comes from COVID, actually, and this summer we made a concerted effort through our rapid hire summer event series, and we were able to actually get openings down to the lowest they've been in more than years," Bukoski added.
Bukoski said the next goal Solid Waste has is to expand routes and get more bins out per day.
"Right now we're getting anywhere from 50 to 100 (trash bin deliveries) but once we get that fifth route up, we believe we can get anywhere from 100 to 150, which would be more ideal," Bukoski said.
Though new cans are one of Albuquerque residents' biggest concerns with the department, they're not the only issue. Bukoski said those stops fall under the bin category, but there are a number of issues that can be addressed during each stop.
"It's 100 to 150 of what we call carton bins in Solid Waste," he said. "What that is are things that could be small repairs, where we just need to go out and put a new piece on, or it could be the entire bin, so we call it 150 stops, not necessarily new bins being delivered."
The city spends roughly $1.4 million each year on cart bin repair and replacement, which comes from an enterprise fund — a type of fund used by a government to account for transactions where it charges fees for providing goods and services to external users.
"What we charge for waste services, that comes out of that (enterprise) funding," Bukoski said. "There is also a $51.48 fee for replacement trash cans, providing additional funding to the department."
More than 3,000 waste carts and 1,000 recycling carts have been ordered.
"That supply will last roughly three months based on estimates of delivering between 50-100 replacement bins per day. That figure does not include repairs we're able to do for minimally damaged bins," Bukoski said.
