NEW ORLEANS — Monday, two new trash haulers are set to take over municipal garbage collections over a wide swath of New Orleans.
Both companies are preparing to hit the streets, despite a swarm of controversy surrounding the city’s new sanitation contracts.
Waste Pro has been doing practice runs all week in New Orleans East.
Friday, driver Triston Moore was learning the garbage collection route he will service come beginning next week. Moore says he’s excited and ready to go.
“I feel like this is going to be the best thing for the city, right now,” Moore said. “We’re going to come in and clean it up. We’re going to do it the best way, the right way and Waste Pro way.”
New Orleans East neighbor Brian Woods said he hopes Waste Pro will pick up on a more consistent basis than the current trash hauler, Metro Service Group.
“This is hit and miss,” Woods said. “Somedays they come on Saturdays. Somedays they come on Sundays and other days they may wait until the next week.”
Waste Pro and IV Waste are expected to take over collections in the Lake communities, Gentilly, New Orleans East, and the Lower Ninth Ward.
The city council has yet to fund their contacts.
IV Waste owner Sidney Torres is hopeful the politics surrounding the sanitation contracts will be worked out.
“My legal team has assured me we will get paid under this contract and just talking with the city, I feel very comfortable I’m going to get paid because we have been getting paid under the emergency contact,” Torres said.
IV Waste is currently collecting 55 percent of Metro’s route under an emergency agreement with the city.
Metro says it also plans to be out collecting trash on Monday.
The company’s bankruptcy filing prevents the city from terminating Metro’s contract.
A judge is now expected to rule on the city’s request to lift the mandatory stay on January 12.
“It’s just very disappointing that they’re sitting there saying they’re going to do what they’ve been doing,” Torres said. “They haven’t been doing much at all because we’ve been picking it up.”
Back in New Orleans East, Triston Moore from Waste Pro is promising to treat all of his customers with care.
“We’re going to put like six trucks in one area,” Moore said. “On one day, you’ll be able to get your recycling can dumped, your trash can dumped, also we’re going to have a boom truck as well to be able to pick up the bulk trash as well.”
Most residents should have received a flyer in the mail from the city, telling them when to put out their trash carts.
Here are the new trash pickup maps:
