November 9 – The trash continues to pile up.
There is a backlog of nearly 2,000 homes in Albuquerque waiting for trash bins to be replaced, said Alex Bukoski, spokesman for Solid Waste Management.
“This is a supply chain problem,” Bukoski said. “…We don’t have a firm date from the supplier yet.”
Bukoski added that the city receives about 2,900 to 3,000 requests for new trash bins each month. He said he wasn’t sure if the number of calls has increased because of outstanding requests for replacement cans.
One of two companies the city has contracted for trash bins, North Carolina-based Toter, sells to residents, governments and retailers. According to a customer service representative, trash bin prices vary. Two-wheeled, 96-gallon carts sell for about $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, Councilwoman Klarissa Peña questioned Mayor Tim Keller’s administration and the 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 for his trash can, with no set date for when to expect it.
Sedillo, who ran for City Council against Peña in 2017, said he noticed on Sept. 12 that the wheels were missing from his trash can.
“They hit the thing so hard when they put it down that the wheels broke off,” 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 to speak with the Solid Waste Management department.
The next day the department called to say they would replace the trash can, but it would take 35 days for them to receive a replacement.
“All the trucks have cameras for safety and to make sure we can go back and see how the drivers are driving,” Bukoski said.
Not 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 leave without a replacement from September 12 to October 25.
“When they lifted it to put it in the truck, they pushed too hard and broke all the sides of it,” he said.
Sedillo texted Peña after realizing council members would be holding a meeting on Oct. 7, informing her of the issues he is facing with solid waste.
“During the meeting, my city council member texted me and said Waste Management will contact you tomorrow,” Sedillo said. “Sure enough, Waste Management contacted me the next morning and by afternoon my trash can was replaced.”
Sedillo received his recycling cart two days later.
That was 10 days earlier than he was told the recycling could arrive, and he believes his connection with city councilors sped up the process.
“The underlying problem is I think they’ve gotten new truck drivers and I don’t know if they’re training them properly or not, but they’re killing them at an alarming rate.”
Residents waiting for the bins will be served on a first-come, first-served basis. The Solid Waste Management Department received two orders on October 30, for a total of 1,248 garbage carts.
The city’s contract with Toter, which is renewed annually, began June 15 and runs through June 14, 2025.
The other option residents have for trash cans is Otto, made by Duramax Holding. That contract started on August 14, 2023 and runs until March 31, 2026.
Bukoski said the trash cans are the same make, model and design as they have been for years. However, some residents have noticed a difference in the new bins, claiming there have been variations in 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 recruit and retain staff in recent years, particularly for bin deliveries, although “through our series of summer rapid hiring events, we have actually been able to reduce openings to the lowest level they have ever been in.” years.”
“We were short-handed in our waste delivery department for a while just due to staffing issues coming out of COVID, and this summer we made a concerted effort through our series of quick rental summer events, and we were able to actually get vacancies until it lowest level in over years,” Bukoski added.
Bukoski said Solid Waste’s next goal is to expand routes and put out more bins per day.
“Right now we’re getting somewhere between 50 and 100 (trash can deliveries), but once we get to that fifth route, we think we can get somewhere between 100 and 150, which would be more ideal,” Bukoski said.
While new cans are one of Albuquerque residents’ biggest concerns with the department, they are not the only problem. Bukoski said these stops fall under the waste category, but there are some issues that can be addressed during each stop.
“It’s 100 to 150 of what we call cardboard bins in solid waste,” he said. “What those are are things that could be minor repairs where we just have to go out and put on a new piece, or it could be the entire bucket, so we call it 150 stops, which doesn’t necessarily involve new buckets are delivered.”
The city spends roughly $1.4 million each year on cart repairs and replacements, drawn from an enterprise fund — a type of fund used by the government to account for transactions in which it charges fees for providing goods and services to external users.
“What we charge for waste services comes out of that (enterprise) funding,” Bukoski said. “There is also a $51.48 fee for replacement trash bins, which provides additional funding to the department.”
More than 3,000 waste carts and 1,000 recycling carts have been ordered.
“That delivery will take approximately three months, based on estimates of delivering between 50 and 100 replacement bins per day. That figure does not include the repairs we can make for minimally damaged bins,” Bukoski said.
