BEXLEY, Ohio (WCMH) — In May 2021, Better Call 4 spoke with Shawna McGreevy about her frustration with yard waste and recycling piling up in her neighborhood.

McGreevy has lived in her Bexley-area home for 20 years, but for the first time in March 2021, she noticed her yard waste and recycling weren’t being picked up as scheduled.

“I noticed it with the yard waste first,” said McGreevy. “They would miss the yard waste and I would call the City of Columbus, the 311 line.”

But the yard waste and recycling continued to pile up. The longest it sat, according to McGreevy, was for more than five weeks.

“It builds up in your house,” she said. “I can only store so much yard waste and so much recycling in my garage until the day, so I need them to really honor their contract. That’s what I need.”

After Better Call 4 spoke with McGreevy this spring, we called Rumpke Waste Management, and asked about the delays. The company responded with a statement saying, “The amount of residential waste being placed curbside remains at record highs in some areas, meaning collection takes longer and requires more team members. In response, Rumpke teams are working extra hours and Rumpke is bringing in assistance from other service areas.”

Better Call 4 reached out to McGreevy in July and asked if she’s seen an improvement. She said Rumpke is “still behind,” and she “never knows what day they are coming.” But adds that “they are picking up more frequently than before.”

Better Call 4 also asked Rumpke if its efforts to hire more workers and clear the backlog is paying off. A representative said the company has “seen an improvement, especially in our driver trainee applicants” in Columbus.

At the end of July, there were 28 new applicants in the program.

Rumpke said it takes between four and six weeks to get people through its CDL training school and out on the job.