Denver trash pickup faces delays amid schedule change

Denver's new trash collection schedule is off to a rough start.

Driving the news: Resident complaints are piling up as trash pickups are skipped on scheduled days.

• The city is asking for patience as it works out the kinks of the new system.
• It advises residents to allow an additional 24 hours before reporting missed collections.

Context: Starting in January, the city consolidated routes to move trash pickup to four days a week — the first shift in at least 15 years.

• Denver's population growth and driver shortage prompted the change.

By the numbers: Denver officials said on the worst days, it is only missing four out of 100 routes, or about 3,000 customers, solid waste division spokesperson Nancy Kuhn told Denverite.

That's about 1.6% of 180,000 total customers.

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