LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — (Eds. note: The attached video is from December 6, 2023, when the City of Little Rock announced it was temporarily suspending the collection of yard waste.)
Update: Little Rock announced on Thursday that it is resuming yard waste collection, following a one-day suspension of service.
The City of Little Rock Public Works Department announced that due to a lack of trucks and workers available to pick up yard waste and trash routes, they are temporarily stopping the collection of yard waste starting Dec. 6.
Public Works Director Jon Honeywell said some personnel have called out sick, and issues with their collections trucks led to this decision.
"I can understand the frustration when those services aren't provided on the day that it's typically scheduled or picked up," Honeywell said. "Right now, part of the issue is getting parts available, which is sort of uniform across the world right now."
Honeywell said they pulled crews from yard waste collection to trash collection to cover what was needed. In doing that, he said they're prioritizing the health of residents.
"The trash has more of a health, safety kind of issue," Honeywell said. "Versus yard waste, which doesn't have that same connotation."
Little Rock residents tell us they're frustrated and want things back up and running as soon as possible.
John Conaway, a subcontractor working in the Hillcrest neighborhood, said after all the work that goes into lawn work, he expects waste to be picked up quickly.
"We look forward to that happening," Conaway said. "We may take time out of our day to actually do the yard work, the yard pick up, the yard cleanup."
The collection of yard waste is set to resume as soon as possible, and the city will update residents when they continue its regular services, which, according to Honeywell, may take a few days.
"I would say, maybe a couple of days, but we're going to keep reporting probably every morning when we know exactly what we have when putting people out in the morning," Honeywell said. "Then we'll be able to update that daily."