Springfield residents, council members frustrated after trash, yard waste go uncollected

Trash not being picked up for weeks — or at all in some cases -- has Springfield residents and council members upset.

Those issues were discussed during a recent Committee of the Whole meeting in Springfield as contract negotiations continue between the city and Republic Services.

“My inbox, telephone, Facebook messages have been full of complaints about Republic,” Ward eight Alderman Erin Conley said. “You provide a service that is extraordinarily critical to our residents, and I don’t want to put any heat on your drivers, on the people who are doing those actual collections … at a management level, this was not handled well.”

For more than a month, the city of Springfield Public Works has been receiving calls from concerned residents who have seen their landscape waste in alleyways sit out for extended periods of time, forgotten from being picked up. According to one Springfield resident said she had seen her yard waste rot on her curb.

“On Monday morning my six yard waste bags were finally collected,” the resident said during the meeting. “It only took three calls to Public Works, and it only took 30 days. It only took three times of bringing the bags out to the street, and then having to take them back. … When I learned this council meeting was taking place, I was determined to document the depth of the problem.”

More: How helping customers on hard times earned this Springfield diner national recognition

The sudden change in quality of pickup from Republic Services comes from an acquisition of Waste Management, who had previously worked with the city Public Works.

Waste Management’s Springfield residential trash and lawn waste collection was bought by Republic Services on Feb. 1 this year, moving roughly 7,000 residential homes from Waste Management to Republic. Public Works was given short notice of the buyout of residential services of Waste Management.

The acquisition would only impact single-family homes previously serviced by Waste Management and not business customers. Republic Services promised no lapse in coverage, no rate increase and the same pickup day with the only difference being the company would now pick up green garbage cans with provided blue stickers, besides the larger blue ones.

However, those changes have yet to take effect in certain parts of the city. Alleyway collection pickup has been skipped by certain Republic garbage disposal trucks.

“The trucks are tall, even though we’re using rear-load trucks they’re tall,” manager of municipal sales Susan Piazza said during the meeting. “Alleys with overgrown trees, brush, low-hanging wires; they are all incidents, and we could have a disruption.”

The ordinance still being discussed by council members would authorize a one-year renewal for the waste collection with Republic Services from April 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025. The contract’s price cap could not exceed $1,164,2900 in total management cost; up from the previous year by $126,390.

Republic intends to put more collectors on the streets for scheduled pickups for previous Waste Management customers who live in places where waste pickup on the curb is not possible.

More: Springfield water bills to increase starting Friday. Here's everything you need to know

There's also a chance residents who did not have their garbage picked up could see a lower bill in the near future, something council members called a no brainer.

“It’s something we need to kinda look at because it wasn’t done very well,” Ward 10 Alderman Ralph Hanauer said at the meeting. “You guys are saying ‘well, we will see if we’ll allow people to take money off their bill because they didn’t get serviced’... I would say you should.”

Piazza could not confirm if residents would see lower bills but said it's "not of the realm" and would be a case-by-case situation.

Residents with any trash or yard waste pickup issues can 217-522-7797 or email at Springfieldyw@republicservices.com.

Residents can also view an interactive map on the city's Public Works website to see where Republic is currently is on their schedule for yard waste pick up and completed schedules.

Claire Grant reports business with the State Journal-Register: CLGrant@gannett.com; X (Formerly known as Twitter): @Claire_Granted

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Springfield renegotiating with Republic Services for trash services