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CANCELED AGAIN: No garbage, recycling, yard-waste pickup Tuesday

December 27, 2021 7:13 pm
|      37 COMMENTS
 |   Utilities | West Seattle news | West Seattle weather

Seattle Public Utilities has just announced that it’s canceling residential solid-waste pickup tomorrow, too. Monday and Friday customers are now scratched until next week; what happens to everybody else depends on how Wednesday goes. Here’s the full announcement:

Due to significant remaining snow and ice on residential streets in Seattle, solid waste collections will not be able to safely operate Tues Dec 28. Garbage, recycling and yard/food waste collections are canceled.

Monday customers will be serviced next week – Monday Jan. 3
Tuesday customers will be serviced Wednesday, if conditions allow
Wednesday and Thursday customers will be collected this Thursday and Friday, if conditions allow
Friday customers will need to be delayed to next Friday, Jan. 7, due to the Jan. 1 holiday on Saturday

Essential customers will continue to be serviced this week.

SPU transfer stations will be open normal hours tomorrow (Tuesday) and the rest of the week. Household hazardous material locations will also remain open.

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37 Replies to "CANCELED AGAIN: No garbage, recycling, yard-waste pickup Tuesday"

  • Sally December 27, 2021 (7:59 pm)

    So relatively new to area, if they cancel this week, will we get charged for the extra waste we will have that won’t fit into our bins?  Also, it’s a recycling week so will that get picked up next week as well?  Website not super helpful

    • WSB December 27, 2021 (8:14 pm)

      No, you won’t – provided it amounts to double the usual volume.

      • Norskgirl December 28, 2021 (6:06 am)

        OK I get confused, and I confused. I’m Monday pick up typically. So I put my garbage out next Monday? Do I put out double the amount of garbage that I will have accumulated? And I do so in any type of bin since I only have one garbage bin and it’s full? And I won’t get charged for additional garbage?

        • WSB December 28, 2021 (6:51 am)

          Yes.

    • WSEA December 27, 2021 (8:46 pm)

      @sally –  I would recommend taking a picture of the garbage to show the amounts.  I know it sounds weird but I’ve been charged extra for a similar issue and used my alley webcam as proof. 

      • Sally December 28, 2021 (6:53 am)

        Thanks!  I will do that. Great suggestion. Our Main Street (Frontenac) is a sheet of ice. 

      • Jim December 28, 2021 (9:50 am)

        Good idea about the photo, where I live you get charged extra if the garbage lids don’t shut on their own and you have garbage sticking out.

  • Auntie December 27, 2021 (8:08 pm)

    So, I don’t suppose SPU will be giving all of us a credit for the week missed. Nah … that’s just crazy talk! 

    • WSB December 27, 2021 (8:12 pm)

      In a past longrunning snow event, they gave credits for those who missed two collections.

    • Thomas A Wood December 28, 2021 (8:39 am)

      Its absurd that this is the best Waste management can do! They could create designated drop off points.Where you could bring your trash to them.The city could also wave the fee at the transfer station for residential trash.This is a windfall for the garbage company. No labor cost no fuel cost at the very least they should credit the city

  • OP December 27, 2021 (8:34 pm)

    Chain up, get your trucks out.  Conditions are not THAT bad.

    • Chuck December 27, 2021 (8:56 pm)

      A couple years ago in the big nasty February freeze, I saw Seattle garbage trucks sliding down my hill. I’m fine with the skipping days if warranted.  Fundamentally there just aren’t enough neighborhood streets being plowed for it to be safe.

    • Brian December 27, 2021 (8:59 pm)

      I wouldn’t drive anything down my street right now much less a giant garbage truck. It’s the right call. 

      • Handsome Jack December 28, 2021 (8:44 pm)

        I agree. I have a Thursday morning pickup and the slop on the alleyway is frozen solid with ice. I’d rather the pickup be delayed than break my neck and butt pushing 6 recycle bins down that slope.

    • Peter December 27, 2021 (9:09 pm)

      How much time have you spent actually drinking one of those trucks, OP?

    • Joe Z December 27, 2021 (10:12 pm)

      I assume the primary hazard is rolling the bins to the truck on the ice? Unless you expect the collectors to wear crampons?

  • David McKay December 27, 2021 (9:31 pm)

    An old co-worker of mine who lived in Syracuse, NY for several years told me they put snow plows on the Garbage Trucks during snow events to not only allow the garbage trucks to pick up the garbage ON SCHEDULE  but also to plow side streets!  Only takes 1-2 hours of training to train garbage truck drivers to operate a snow plow!

    • Mark47n December 27, 2021 (11:21 pm)

      Except for the snow that is plowed has to go somewhere. In the case of our streets that would be…where the parked cars are.I grew up in Denver. We had hills (not like here), narrow streets, etc. Arterials were plowed but snow and ice would build up pretty badly on some of the city streets and would be there for months. It was a fact of life and the city/state had the infrastructure to handle it. Seattle doesn’t have the infrastructure. It’ll be nasty here for a week or two and then it’ll go back to the typical cold and wet. Given that weather like this doesn’t strike often or for long it would be a silly expenditure to build it up as well.            

      • MW December 28, 2021 (12:10 am)

        Haha I lived in Chicago for a decade where they plow the narrowest of narrow streets and push the snow up against parked cars (because lots of homes there don’t have a driveway or a garage)    They bury your car  with snow so high, you  can’t even find it to shovel it out.  Once a Chicagoan  finds and shovels  it out they put a chair in that spot to mark it.  You’ll find your car damaged if you move their chair and park.   Everybody complains about the cleared snow burying cars, but nobody wants or expects the city to just NOT plow because of that.  

        • CAM December 28, 2021 (6:25 am)

          The dibs tradition in Chicago is one of the most ridiculous systems ever created and is based in people who are usually really nice becoming absolutely awful to their neighbors for weeks on end. There are calls for police to stop it from going on every winter. 

    • Jort December 27, 2021 (11:22 pm)

      Here is a fun graph for you of the average annual snowfall in Syracuse, New York: Would you like me to post the Seattle one?

    • WS Res December 28, 2021 (12:27 am)

      Your friend told you wrong. They put snow plows on the garbage trucks because they can’t afford to buy and warehouse enough single-purpose snowplows to cover a city’s needs when it competes every year with Buffalo for greatest total snowfall in the country. The garbage truck plows go out with one purpose only: to scrape streets. And your garbage gets collected several days or a week late just like it does here.  (I went to grad school there. One of the years I was there, we cane within half an inch of breaking the all-time yearly total. Something like 184 inches?  I was there for at least two storms of three feet plus.)

  • Mj December 27, 2021 (10:10 pm)

    OP – agreed, the Arterials are clear and many residential streets are level and straight.  

    Auntie – agreed, people aught to be given an opportunity for a credit.  If a resident leaves an extra bundle out the SPU is quick to charge extra.  It’s only fair that if they do not pick up a credit should be made available for those that request one.

  • Admiral Neighbor December 27, 2021 (10:26 pm)

    Are there any changes to Christmas tree pickup with the delays? 

  • Dj December 28, 2021 (3:03 am)

    Being a retired Garbage Man, I can tell you it is very unsafe to drive on these roads right now.  With the nice sunshine we had Monday it melted some of the snow. Then at night we got freezing temperatures,  now that causes Ice. You idiots really want a sliding wreking ball on our streets. The tires of those trucks are hard to help support the weight of a fully loaded Truck, 17+ tons.  They are not plyable tires like on your cars Thank God you were smart enough not to be my coworkers.  We take pride in our job and don’t take it lightly. It is was put food on my table, a roof over my head and sent my kids to college. Oh, having been over most of WS there really isn’t many streets that are on flat ground. Most of the streets you go up or down a incline to get to flat areas. How do you expect to get trucks to your flat streets. Have some common sense and decently for our garbage drivers. 

    • BlairJ December 28, 2021 (7:40 am)

      Thank you to all the garbage/recycling/compost drivers out there.  City life would be miserable without you.  Enjoy your days off.  Our garbage will be OK until you can get to it.

    • Zim December 28, 2021 (9:55 am)

      Yep, as a garbage person with tons of years picking up trash from a different state the general  public would be extremely surprised to find out that garbage people get paid more then public school teachers who educated their children and have college degrees. 

      • Mellow Kitty December 28, 2021 (10:57 am)

        I think the wages for garbage collectors are reasonable. It’s a hard job, a dirty job, and an essential job. Second (a personal pet peeve) having a college degree does not automatically make a person, or their job, more or less important than any other person or job. There is no such thing as an unskilled worker. I have a MA. I still can’t get work that pays more than minimum wage. Getting a degree did not automatically set me on a higher level. 

  • ShermanO December 28, 2021 (10:38 am)

    After the last big snow storm I saw a garbage truck that failed to get up the modest hill outside my house, and he did a slow, controlled slide in reverse between parked cars to get back to level ground. He had a foot or two on either side. It was an astonishing display of skill, patience, and courage–and one I do not hope to see repeated next to my car! They should stay home and keep themselves and everyone else safe.

  • Jort December 28, 2021 (11:10 am)

    The people who screech about forcing garbage collectors to work in dangerous, life-risking conditions are the same people you see at the airport screaming at flight attendants and gate agents to try and force planes on mechanical or weather delays to take off, all because their needs are the most important ones, and screw anybody else who says otherwise. Here’s a thought: show some empathy and respect for other people, especially the ones who pick up all the stupid trash you needlessly accumulate due to your excessive consumerist consumption. 

  • Colonel Mustard's Wrench December 28, 2021 (3:09 pm)

    Our regular recycle day was yesterday.
    Does anyone know if recycle will be picked up next Monday ?  

  • Hills December 28, 2021 (4:16 pm)

    I really don’t want a garbage truck sliding down the hill where I live. I wonder how many parked cars would be crushed before it stopped, if a pick-up was attempted. Once a garbage truck got sliding it might end up in the sound, taking everything in its path with it. I’m glad they are not out. The streets are bobsled runs as far as I can see.

  • Mj December 28, 2021 (5:55 pm)

    I have no issue with the delay in the pickup, my frustration is that the City does not simply credit the customers account accordingly.  Frankly many people can go with out pick up for a week and a credit would be much better for many customers.  The SPU is quick to charge for extra garbage left out, why not be just as quick with a credit for a missed pick up?

  • Cheri January 5, 2022 (10:46 am)

    There is zero ice no rain no weather and no trash truck yet again..I get it the road WERE bad but for the last 2 days I’ve been watching all kinds of large truck fully loaded go up and down my street without issue!! I live on a hill folks!!! Wtf

    • WSB January 5, 2022 (10:51 am)

      We’ve heard from people who have been picked up today (our street included, a Tuesday neighborhood). Is your regular collection day M, T, or W?

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