Essex residents get second chance for holiday garbage pickup after calendar misprint

Essex residents in the town’s north end will see garbage trucks return Monday, December 30 after a calendar misprint caused confusion about holiday trash collection.

The town’s 2024 Collection Calendar mistakenly indicated that the first post-Christmas pickup would occur on Friday, December 27.

However, garbage trucks instead rolled through town on Boxing Day.

“As soon as I woke up, my phone started going off saying, the trucks are out. What's happening?” Mayor Sherry Bondy recalled.

“The trucks went out yesterday. There wasn't a lot of garbage out there because people didn't know to put it out.”

Normally, garbage pickup in “Area 2” of Essex happens on Wednesdays — but with Christmas falling midweek, that collection was offset.

Bondy said someone at town hall must have given the Essex-Windsor Solid Waste Authority the wrong date for the calendar.

"It's something that we're taking seriously,” Bondy said.

“And we're going to review it so that it doesn't happen again, because we know it's an inconvenience to residents."

The town announced Friday afternoon that they had arranged for GFL trucks to collect garbage from as many Area 2 households as possible Monday.

However, due to time constraints, crews may not reach all homes.

Any garbage missed Monday will be collected during the next scheduled pickup on Thursday, January 2.

 

Backlash from frustrated residents

This marks the third time in 2024 that town residents have been affected by errors on the waste collection calendar.

In the aftermath of the latest mistake, many residents voiced frustration – particularly during a week that often sees an uptick in trash.

“There’s a lot of anger right now with residents about the missed garbage,” Bondy said.

“And I can understand it to some degree because the holiday garbage pickup is probably the largest pickup you have.”

Social media users expressed their displeasure, with one resident writing, “I hope someone will be held accountable.”

Others suggested dumping their trash at town hall – or even at the mayor’s home.

“People were really angry,” Bondy admitted.

“There's just a lot of nasty comments saying that we should have been on top of it. And particularly myself.”

She added that as mayor, she is not solely responsible for every issue in town.

“Council is high level for the most part, and there's no strong mayor power here. It would be impossible for any mayor to read every contract, to proofread, to cross-reference every tender that went out,” she said.

 

Other towns see the same problem

Essex isn’t alone in dealing with waste collection issues this holiday season.

Nearby Lakeshore faced a similar situation but was able to bring contractors back out Friday.

For Essex’s Area 2 residents, garbage trucks are set to roll out Monday, December 30, with another chance for collection on January 2 for any households missed.

While garbage collection was impacted, recycling pickup was not.

GFL Environmental followed the schedule as printed, collecting recycling Friday.