Cape Coral trash trucks criticized for littering

Cape Coral residents in Florida are complaining that Waste Pro sanitation trucks are doing a sloppy job of dumping trash and are littering streets with garbage.

“They just dump and go they just don’t—90 percent of it could be eliminated if they would just slow down,” Steve Colgan told www.nbc-2.com.

Waste Pro responded by saying that it’s the residents themselves who bear responsibility for dirtying up the roads.

Resident William Molina agrees. He says neighbors could do more to keep the streets clean, like bagging up loose garbage before placing it into a trash can. Waste Pro trucks in Cape Coral are equipped with an automated pickup system. When hydraulic arms raise a trash can into the air and dump its contents upside down over the truck, loose debris can fall away onto the ground. A video posted below shows some trash falling away from Waste Pro trucks during collection.

“Bottles and stuff…I put them in bags so when they do fall inside their bins, it doesn’t fall out because the air is throwing it everywhere,” he said.

Waste Pro said its workers are responsible for gathering up trash that falls from the truck, but are not responsible for any loose litter that’s already present on the road prior to pickup.

Cape Coral city officials are working with Waste Pro to draft a list of procedures on how residents should best handle refuse and recyclables.