SAN ANTONIO – The city's Solid Waste Management Department is readjusting collection dates, and residents are dealing with extra-full trash cans this week after a holiday weekend and icy conditions put trash, recycling and organic pickups two days behind.
Crews were already off on Monday because of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and SWMD decided to keep its trucks off the roads on Tuesday because of the icy conditions. To catch up, truck operators are working extra and longer shifts, plus a sliding schedule that puts most collections for all three types of bins a day or two later than normal.
Bins that would normally be collected Monday were picked up Wednesday. Tuesday and Wednesday collections will be picked up on Thursday. Thursday collections will be picked up on Friday, and Friday and Saturday collections will be picked up on Saturday.
"We're out here collecting," assured side loader operator Jose Barrera, who was picking up recycling on the West Side. "It's got to be picked up, so we're going to be out here."
The delays have caused some minor irritation. Gustavo Austin Jalon said he's seen stray dogs try to get into the trash.
"They get on top of the trash can, and they bite the bag and some trash falls out," Jalon said.
A few blocks away, loose garbage sat next to Autumn Garcia's trash can, in which she had packed too much over too much time.
"Our trash has just been piling up," said Garcia, whose trash collection is normally Monday. "I've even had to put some in the recycling bin. And I come home, and that's how it was."
The can was so full, the trash had apparently spilled out when it was collected Wednesday.
"It makes our neighborhood look messy just because there's trash everywhere because we're not able to put anything in there anymore," Garcia said of the delays.