Volumes have risen in 2020

city officials said.

In May, the city reported an 18 percent increase in trash, a 19 percent jump in recycling and a 17 percent increase in green waste since the start of the pandemic, compared with the same period in 2019.

Add to that higher-thannormal rates of absences among trash collection workers. More workers than usual are either sick or caring for a family member for reasons related to COVID-19, Rife said.

Since September, the city has added new sanitation drivers positions, has brought back retired sanitation drivers, has reassigned employees from other departments and has been diligently filling vacant sanitation driver positions and intensifying training, Rife said.

“This plan for continuity of operations will also assist should the pandemic worsen,” she said.

People who have reported missed collections to the city’s “Get it Done” website describe waiting weeks for trash to be picked up from cans on the curb.

“Our garbage has been missed for two weeks,” a resident reported Nov. 6 about missed collections on Fourth Avenue near Quince Street. “They do not go down our small street, yet take everyone else’s trash around. Our garbage cans are full and we are not able to put anything in them. We have two cans for seven people. This is ridiculous.”

A reporter who visited the address on Nov. 10 found two full trash cans, their lids slightly ajar, on the curb. The owner of the residence could not be reached for comment.

Another person who made a report Nov. 6 about missed collection at an address on Chaparral Way near Montezuma Road, in the College West neighborhood, also described waiting more than two consecutive weeks for trash to be picked up, though all their neighbors’ refuse was collected on time. The report said the problem was corrected Nov. 11.

The Union-tribune reviewed numerous reports that described similarly lengthy gaps in collections.

San Diego’s free trash pickup for single family homes is an unusual service for a city. The practice was established by a law called the People’s Ordinance in 1919, when trash was valuable to hog farmers.

Now the city collects trash, recycling and green waste from about 289,000 single-family homes and street-facing duplexes throughout the city. It costs the city about $34 million annually.

Private haulers collect trash and recycling for businesses, commercial properties, condominiums, apartment complexes and gated communities, for which customers pay fees.

Rife said Friday that the city is not currently experiencing any issues with delayed collections, noting that the collection status map on the city’s website showed no impacted areas.

She recommended residents put trash containers curbside by 6 a.m. to ensure collection, though it may take more than a day to collect them. Rife also recommends people check the city’s Environmental Services webpage for delays before reporting a missed collection.