Changes To DeKalb’s Trash Pick-Up Schedule Leaves Some With Unwanted Leftovers

Ted S. Warren / Associated Press

Some DeKalb County residents missed their trash pick-up day after Thanksgiving. That’s because the county changed the collection day less than two weeks in advance.

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Each year, DeKalb County sends out mailers to let residents know the trash collection schedule for the holidays. The flier said Thursday’s pick-up would be moved to Saturday.



Pauline Andrea, with DeKalb’s sanitation department, said the county changed the Thanksgiving schedule to be in line with other holidays. This way pick-up would only be a day behind, not two. She said the county updated the schedule online in mid-November but didn’t send out mailers.

“With 176,000 plus residents, it would not only be very costly to do it but also very time consuming,” Andrea said. According to sanitation department, it costs $100,000 annually to print and send the mailers. Andrea said from now on, the county will discontinue sending mailers and update online instead.

County garbage trucks rolled on Friday, but the word didn’t get out to all 40,000 customers whose pick-up day got moved.

Andrea said the county customer service line has fielded almost 100 complaints since Friday, most of which, she said, have been addressed.

Clarification: DeKalb County did update the garbage schedule on its website through this news release. It did not update the physical schedule online, as that was posted in the form of a .pdf of a paper flier.