Yard garbage pickup is temporarily stopped in Little Rock

Little Rock, Arkansas – The City of Little Rock Public Works Department announced on December 6 that they will be temporarily ceasing yard waste collection due to a shortage of trucks and people available to pick up yard debris and trash routes.

Director of Public Works Jon Honeywell said that this decision was made because some employees had reported sick and there were problems with their collection trucks.

“I can understand the frustration when those services aren’t provided on the day that it’s typically scheduled or picked up,” Honeywell said. “Right now, part of the issue is getting parts available, which is sort of uniform across the world right now.”

According to Honeywell, to cover what was required, they moved staff from yard waste pickup to garbage collection. He claimed that by doing that, they are putting the people’s health first.

“The trash has more of a health, safety kind of issue,” Honeywell said. “Versus yard waste, which doesn’t have that same connotation.”

Locals in Little Rock express their frustration and desire for a speedy return to normalcy.

After all the work that goes into lawn care, John Conaway, a subcontractor in the Hillcrest neighborhood, said he anticipates waste to be picked up promptly.

“We look forward to that happening,” Conaway said. “We may take time out of our day to actually do the yard work, the yard pick up, the yard cleanup.”

The city plans to notify households when it resumes regular services, which Honeywell says might take a few days. The collection of yard garbage is scheduled to start as soon as possible.

“I would say, maybe a couple of days, but we’re going to keep reporting probably every morning when we know exactly what we have when putting people out in the morning,” Honeywell said. “Then we’ll be able to update that daily.”