GREENWOOD — UPDATE: The trash in Andrew Carman's neighborhood was picked up a day after WRTV reached out to Republic about the situation. They're currently hiring to try and prevent delays like the one that happened in Carman's subdivision.
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ORIGINAL STORY: This week's hot weather is adding to a problem for some Central Indiana neighborhoods. Garbage pickup from Republic Services of Indianapolis has been delayed for two weeks in some areas. Andrew Carman is one of their unlucky customers.
"They've been a day or even two days late before, that's not uncommon," Carman said. "It's been 90-something degrees outside, so you can imagine what that trash is doing."
Carman's subdivision is home to many families. Many of them don't have an option to cut back on what they throw out to adapt to the delays.
"There are lots and lots of kids that live in this addition," Carman said. "In most families, there are three or four kids per family. There's a lot of trash."
After talking to his subdivision's office and trying to call Republic with no answer, he turned to social media.
"That's when I got on Facebook and asked if anybody else had a problem, and they said they did," Carman said.
WRTV reached out to Republic Services to see when people could expect their trash to be picked up. They gave us this statement below about the situation.
Republic Services is proud to provide services to Indianapolis and the surrounding area. We have continually worked to serve the community with minimal disruption while prioritizing the health and safety of our employees during this unprecedented time.Unfortunately, we recently have experienced some collection delays in the area and are working to get caught up. We apologize for any disruptions this may be causing in our community and we appreciate our customers' understanding and patience during this time.Many industries are facing staffing challenges at this time, and the recycling and waste disposal industry is no different. We are carefully monitoring the needs of our customers and communities with the supply and availability of our talent and adjusting our efforts to attract, engage and retain talent accordingly.
Carman hopes Republic will provide a clear answer on when their two-week-old trash is going to be picked up.
"That's my biggest concern," Carman said. "When are you going to pick it up so we can plan for this. Do we use our recycle barrels and use it for trash for temporarily? What can we do?"
