Contact: Linda Grant, 202-671-2375

Regretfully, we continue to have problems with regard to the icy condition of many of the alleys and how this affects residential trash/recycling collection.  We truly regret the inconvenience of having to hold onto your trash and/or recyclables until the next collection day when weather conditions create unsafe circumstances for our collection crews. 

We ask our drivers to use their best judgment when driving their routes, keeping uppermost the safety of the crew and the public. All our drivers must possess a Commercial Driver’s License to be employed by DPW in this capacity; and they can lose their license, and livelihood, if they are determined to be at fault in an accident. The drivers also weigh the risk to employees who collect the cans when determining if an alley or street is too icy to navigate. Injury to the crew or the public as well as property damage, weigh heavily on a driver’s conscience even if an accident is not his or her fault.

Again, we do recognize we are inconveniencing the residents when trash and recycling aren’t collected timely and hope that we have no more winter weather to impede our work.