Complaints about city recycling on the decline

After being deluged with complaints about recycling not being picked up, the city of Charlotte said the service has improved since a new contractor started.

Waste Management started a new five-year contract Aug. 31.

During the first week of service, the city said it received 511 calls about missed recycling pickup.

The number of complaints has declined, and was 127 in early November, according to a city memo.

The city said it still wants residents to contact 311 if a pickup is missed. The city also said residents should keep their bins at the curb until the recycling is picked up.

The previous contractor was Inland Waste Solutions. In summer 2014, the company began struggling to maintain its routes.

At the time, company officials said former Mayor Patrick Cannon’s arrest on corruption charges in March 2014 had convinced employees that the company would not receive a new contract even though the company was never implicated in the scandal. A number of employees left the company, which had trouble finding enough people to staff the routes.

The city began taking over some of the routes last summer.

This story was originally published November 13, 2015 at 12:04 PM with the headline "Complaints about city recycling on the decline."