SEATTLE (Recycling Monster): The City of Columbia Solid Waste Department noted that its recycling program continues to be impacted by staffing shortages. Incidentally, the department is said to have 16 open positions currently, which needs to be filled. The department is set to hold a meeting on its recycling program.
It must be noted that shortage of staff had forced the city to cancel recycling pickup last Wednesday and Friday.
Matt Nestor, spokesperson for Columbia Utilities noted that the city has been facing the issue for several years now. The recycling collection had to be cancelled last week due to staff shortage. It considers trash collection as the most important part of the duty and has been focusing on it, Nestor added.
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The workers are starting to feel the pressure, as they need to put in more hours of work to keep up with city’s recycling. The workload has increased significantly, since the available workers are forced to do both refuse and recycling simultaneously. As a result, workers complained that they are forced to make adjustments to their personal life.
The automated collection, followed by the introduction of roll carts, is likely to address the issue to a certain extent, as fewer people will be required in those routes that switch to automated collection. However, it cannot be considered as a permanent solution.
