Wilfalk on sanitation worker shortage: 'It means that at times, at certain times throughout the week, services might get compromised'

Houston's sanitation department is experiencing a labor shortage, according to a report from Houston NBC affiliate KPRC.

Houston Solid Waste Management Director Mark Wilfalk told KPRC that the department and other garbage pickup companies have been struggling to fill job vacancies.

As a result, trash bins sit overflowing on the curb as pickup days become fewer, the station reported.

Wilfalk said the competitive nature of solid waste management is a factor in the worker shortage.

At least 50 openings with the department remain unfilled, KPRC reported.

The national driver shortage has had a negative effect on solid waste services, Wilfalk told the station.

“It means that at times, at certain times throughout the week, services might get compromised,” the director said, per KPRC. “It’s not that it won’t be provided, but it may not be as scheduled.”

According to the report, garbage pickups in every state are mandatory under federal law. 

An unidentified sanitation employee told KPRC that Houston's increasing growth isn't helping matters.

“As the city grows, we’re not getting the manpower, the personnel, that we need.” the worker said, the station reported. 

Alvin Community College commercial driver's license coordinator Jimmie Munk told the station that the lure of road truck driving is too strong for most garbage truck drivers.

“The money is all over the road,” Munk said, KPRC reported.

The city and private sanitation businesses are doing what they can to boost their respective workforces. 

Residential trash and recycling company Best Trash is relying on insurance and has created an employee loan program in an effort to make more hires, owner Matthew May told the station.

KPRC reported that the city hopes a $3,000 signing bonus and three days off will help solve its garbage worker woes.