Kansas City is resuming trash and recycling pickup on Friday, even after two rounds of snow covered streets and delayed collection efforts.
The city canceled its trash and recycling pickup Monday-Thursday of this week because of the weekend’s winter storm and ongoing low temperatures. Sanitation workers missed some houses on Friday last week as crews focused on road treatment and prepared for the oncoming snow and ice.
Garbage pickup crews, like most of the city’s Public Works employees, have been focused on plowing snow and treating roads.
Trash and recycling pickup were set to resume on Friday, despite the fresh snow that fell Thursday night.
"Trash will still be picked up today, and crews will work through the weekend if needed to finish Friday's routes," a city spokesperson told KCUR on Friday morning. "24/7 snow operations are also continuing as planned."
However, if temperatures reach negative 15 degrees, it’s considered unsafe for employees to be out, and trash will be delayed again.
“The City does not want to subject employees to those temperatures for prolonged periods,” said Ryan McMonigle, a spokesperson for Kansas City Public Works. “Anytime frostbite is not a risk, trash operations are good to resume.”
Many cities in Johnson County also delayed or canceled trash pickup services this week.
Normally, residents are allowed two bags of trash per week for pickup. Because of the weather cancellations, people who have Monday-Thursday pickup can put out two extra bags of trash to make up for the lost service without the typically required tags.
Residents with Friday service who did not get their trash picked up on Jan. 3 will be allowed two additional bags this week. Crews will also pick up trash on Saturday to ensure they collect all Friday customers.
Bulky item pickup appointments are also canceled for the rest of the week. Those with appointments should use the myKCMO app to reschedule.
You can find the most up to date information about trash and recycling on both the trash and winter weather pages of the city's website.
