An owner of a local disposal service says he’s asking residents to keep sanitation workers in mind when taking out the trash.
Jimmy Klein is the owner of Alley Cat Disposal, a trash hauling service that partners with the city of Lincoln.
“Nobody’s brought it up, but yet, we’re right there, we’re right there in the neighborhoods. I mean we’re covering the whole city of Lincoln,” said Klein.
In fact, concerns have risen to such a point that he intends to send postcards to customers about what they can do to prevent potentially spreading the virus through their trash.
Recommendations include making sure customers bag all trash and to drain any liquids.
“We’re just hoping and praying that we can all get through this in our industry without somebody getting sick, but I worry it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of time,” said Klein.
He adds that even though there has been a sharp dropoff of trash coming from businesses, there’s been an uptick in residential pickups.
According to Klein, discussions have begun among members of Lincoln’s Solid Waste and Recycling Association about what to do if COVID-19 begins to spread among employees.
“If we have to start working longer days with shorter crews, the customers are just going to probably see their trash get picked up at a later time,” said Klein.
He stresses any talks about delaying pick-up are preliminary and that, for now, waste removal is running as scheduled.
“We don’t foresee anything happening, but there’s no guarantee with this,” said Klein.