Delays in trash pick-up likely to continue through 2025

HONOLULU (KHON2) -- Delays in picking up trash could continue through 2025, according to the city. Honolulu Deputy Communications Director Ian Scheuring said they are doing everything they can to address the problem.

It's an eyesore. Overflowing bins and trash left uncollected is an issue happening more often.

"There have been plenty of days in the last six months or so where at least a couple of trash routes have not been picked up," Scheuring explained. "It all comes down to supply chain issues that were first caused as a result of the coronavirus pandemic."

"We have plenty of people, drivers, we just don't have updated equipment," Honolulu Department of Environmental Services Director Roger Babcock explained.

According to Babcock, his department has a fleet of 105 side loader trucks, each one lasts seven years, and they buy 15 new trucks a year.

In 2020 he said all those orders were cancelled and they hadn't received any new trucks until very recently.