Houston officials are adding crews and hiring national debris-hauling contractors to clear piled-up trash. The cleanup will start in the southwest and move north. In the Alief area, KHOU reports that 311 has received many "missed heavy trash pickup" cases since late October, including abandoned couches and broken appliances. The city expects the contractors to help reduce the backlog.
Houston residents are frustrated with delayed trash and recycling pickups, with one saying, “The mattress... the chair... the wine bottle. It’s killing the grass. I’ve not seen the truck come by,” as piles of waste continue to accumulate. Sharpstown resident Jana described the long-standing blight, noting, “You can tell some of these trees are brown. We got beds down there, stuff. This furniture to my left has been here forever. You can tell the green trees from the brown trees how long they’ve been sitting. Here, the house to the left," according to Click2Houston.
In response, Mayor John Whitmire announced a plan to address the backlog: “We’re going to play catch-up by outsourcing to private companies, and then we’re going to come back with a new model where we will pick up on demand,” starting with Southwest Houston. Jana expressed cautious optimism about the effort, saying, “Awesome! Well, thank you so much. I’ll put it out there on Next Door Neighbor,” as residents anticipate cleaner streets.
