Columbia Solid Waste staffing shortages affect recycling pickup - KOMU 8

Columbia Solid Waste staffing shortages affect recycling pickup | Mid-Missouri News | komu.com

COLUMBIA − The city of Columbia's Solid Waste department is set to host a meeting on its recycling program Tuesday night amid staffing shortages.

According to Matt Nestor, spokesperson for Columbia Utilities, the city has been facing this issue since 2015.

The department currently has 16 open positions, according to Nestor.

Just last week, the city was forced to cancel recycling pickup on Wednesday and Friday due to the shortage.

"This last week or so, when we've had a number of people call in, we just haven't had the ability to do the recycling collection, so we focus on trash collection," Nestor said. "That's the most important part of our duties."

Some of its workers said they're starting to feel the impacts of this shortage.

Justin Dueber, a senior refuse collector, said he's had to put in more hours to keep up with the city's recycling as a result.

“We got a lot more physical labor," Dueber said. "When we don’t have enough staff and they send out a post about not picking up recycling on a particular day, we just, we have to do both refuse and recycling at the same time, so it increases our workload.”

Although this increase in hours has been difficult yet manageable, Dueber said he's learned how to incorporate his new schedule into daily life.

"You know, it’s just like any other job," he said. "If you got a heavier work load, you have to make adjustments to your personal life, and that’s just what you got to do.

The addition of roll carts, which are scheduled to officially be implemented in 2024, could potentially help with the issue, according to Nestor.

"When we move to the automated collection, we'll need fewer people on those routes," Dueber said. "We'll be able to use those workers in other areas of collection."

Although automated collection will help, it is still not a permanent solution.

In the meantime, Dueber said one of the biggest things residents can do to help the city's Solid Waste department during this time is to utilize Columbia's drop-off recycling centers.

"It might be beneficial to us to lighten our workload a little bit, so we can get caught up and get some quality workers in that can help get the job done,” Dueber said.

Department leaders, as well as partner RRT Design and Construction, plan to touch on the city's Waste Diversion Program at Tuesday's meeting, as well as how it can continue to improve. Residents can present any questions or concerns at the meeting at 6 p.m. at City Hall.