ST. LOUIS — New trash pickup trucks, new dumpsters, new driver incentives are among the solutions St. Louis City is using to fix its waste collection issues.

Starting Monday, there will be a second evening shift of mechanics to repair trucks and have them ready for next day’s waste collections service, according to Betherny Williams, director of streets, traffic and refuse. 

What You Need To Know

  • The refuse division needs an additional 10 drivers to be fully staffed. A $3,000 new hire incentive is still being offered for those who meet the criteria.

  • Thanks to ARPA funds, new trash pickup trucks have been purchased, and a shipment of 1,600 new dumpsters has arrived and will replace current ones that have rotted out.

  • Illegal dumping is a problem being addressed through alley cameras and working with the police department’s environmental investigation unit.

  • The refuse division has not suspended its recycling services, however, staff are looking at the frequency recycling is being picked up.

  • City residents who notice overflowing dumpsters, illegal dumping, missing hooks or other damage to the dumpsters can call the citizens service bureau at 314-622-4800 to make a report. 

Last week, she said the refuse division collects trash on 45 routes on a daily basis, which equals to 30,000 homes. To effectively pick up waste, the division needs 50 trucks, including alleyway and road carts, and 50 drivers. 

There was a low last week of 23 working alley trucks, and Friday had a total of 25 alley trucks and road cart trucks out working. Williams said the refuse division needs an additional 10 drivers to be fully staffed. 

There still is a $3,000 hiring incentive in place for those who meet the criteria. Additional mechanics have been hired and will continue to work on Saturdays. 

Williams said staff are working seven days a week to complete one cycle of trash pickup across the city.  

“We continue to aggressively work to recruit and hire heavy equipment operators who can drive our drives and collect waste and recycling in a timely manner,” she said.

The refuse division continues to operate a pilot program with Rubicon to help assess the amount of trash in city neighborhoods, as well as optimize the trash pickup routes for efficiency, and to keep drivers accountable for doing their jobs and keep residents accountable for putting the trash in designated spots, Williams said.

“Every month, we are collecting data so we can determine what’s the best solution with the number of people we have and the amount of fleet so that we can collect solid waste across the city,” she said. 

“We remain committed to alleyway collection of trash once per week citywide and we’ll continue to evaluate areas that will need second pickups as needed,” she said.

Thanks to ARPA funds, new trash pickup trucks have been purchased, and a shipment of 1,600 new dumpsters has arrived and will replace current ones that have rotted out. 

A contractor will soon make those replacements, Williams said.

The city has been experiencing dumpster hook thefts, which are needed to lift the dumpsters so that the trash can be dumped into the trucks. Over the past two months, Williams said 237 dumpster hooks have been repaired.

“This is causing problems in alleyways for picking up our services,” Williams said. 

Moving forward, there will be changes to the way the hooks are attached to the dumpsters in hopes of fewer hook thefts throughout the city. 

Additionally, illegal dumping is a problem being addressed through alley cameras and working with the police department’s environmental investigation unit, according to Williams. 

She also discussed overflowing recycling bins. She said the refuse division has not suspended its recycling services, however, staff are looking at the frequency recycling is being picked up.

“It’s not the recycling that’s causing some of these issues that we are seeing. It’s the amount of fleet that we have out on the roads,” Williams said. 

“While we’re going through this time period of managing our fleet, as well as our employees, we’re looking at different routes. How can we still do recycling, but maybe on a different frequency than once a week.”

City residents who notice overflowing dumpsters, illegal dumping, missing hooks or other damage to the dumpsters can call the citizens service bureau at 314-622-4800 to make a report.