JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Most can agree, taking out the trash isn't our favorite thing to do, but what's worse is taking it to the curb and finding out it hasn't been picked up. One Jacksonville community says they've had trash pick up delays for both hours and days. First Coast News has learned the community is not alone either.
Donte Castaldo’s spent the last few weeks cleaning out his 7-year-old daughter’s room.
“She’s changing schools, this and that, so we’ve been dumping everything out of her room, and it just sits here," Castaldo said.
Trash has been piling up on the curb outside his home off Julington Creek Road, sometimes left there for hours -- even days -- after scheduled pick-up.
“It’s been going on for weeks now, months now, it’s been taking longer and longer to get pickups,” Castaldo said.
He isn’t the only one asking the city of Jacksonville to pick up their trash.
In the past month, the city has received nearly 6,000 complaints for missing yard waste, recycling and garbage. Some homeowners told us recycling was a week behind before it was picked up Friday afternoon.
The city of Jacksonville responded to our questions about complaints filed with the city. City Public Information Officer Tia Ford provided the following response:
"While contractors work diligently to ensure scheduled collections, there are peak seasons, weather conditions, mechanical failures and non-compliant collection standards that impact efficiency and timelines.”
A specific reason for this delay was not given to us by the city, but a homeowner who filed his own complaint and was told there have been equipment failures.
“I think it’s just the demand, all the people, the new homes. They need to hire more people is what it is. They just need to hire more people,” Castaldo said.
Until then, Castaldo says, like his neighbors, he’s forced to wait.
“Out with the old, in with the new, and hopefully they’ll come and pick it up sometime today,” he said.