6 things the people who collect your garbage around KC wish you knew & did differently

Editor’s note: This story is part of The Star’s series “Talking Trash.” All of the stories were inspired by questions and concerns we heard from Kansas Citians through listening sessions, an online callout and other conversations in our community. You can share thoughts in the form at the bottom of this story, or email kcq@kcstar.com.

Bill Oxley starts his day at 6:30 a.m. in a wide parking lot on the outskirts of Olathe. After checking over his trash truck, he climbs in and navigates the Kansas suburb’s quiet, tree-lined streets, where gray plastic trash carts sit at the end of every driveway.

Then, using a joystick not unlike those found on arcade games, he expertly extends a huge metal claw from the side of his truck and grabs his first cart. A glance in his wing mirror and a few flicks of the joystick are all it takes to lift the cart, dump it into the back of his huge truck and set it back down.

“I really like my job,” Oxley told The Star during a recent ride-along, where we got to see the collection process up close. “I wish I could go back and tell my 20-year-old self, this is what you should do.”

Trash collection in the metro varies significantly based on where you live. Kansas City, which also has a city-run solid waste program, typically has multiple employees working on each trash truck to haul loose bags of waste that sit on the curb into the back by hand. However, some residents are part of an ongoing pilot program where trucks empty trash carts mechanically after workers roll them into the street.

Still other municipalities contract with private hauling companies to collect their trash — or let residents hire their own haulers.

We collected guidance from around the metro on how to make your trash easier for collectors to carry away.

Don’t block your own trash cart

If you live in a community where trash trucks grab carts from the curb and dump them mechanically, Oxley advised customers not to block their trash with vehicles.

“There’s a lot of folks, they might have a visitor that day that will park right in front of the trash can,” he said. “But time is money for me and for all of us. So if I have to get out (of the truck) to get the cart, it slows me down or I have to block traffic to do it.”

Instead, he recommended leaving the cart at the edge of your yard or driveway unobstructed, where trucks can reach it easily. It’s also helpful when customers with multiple trash carts leave them a few feet apart, giving operators’ giant claws more room to maneuver.

“We recommend 36 inches,” Oxley said with a laugh. “I don’t think anybody follows that rule.”

Keep your trash bags light

This tip comes from Kansas City public works director Michael Shaw, who says that extremely heavy bags can pose a challenge for city sanitation workers.

“One of our big concerns in solid waste is injuries (to workers),” Shaw told The Star. “They’re picking up about eight tons of trash every single day. And walking four or five miles a day. Doing that every day — rain, sleet, shine — it is physically taxing.”

Kansas City requires that trash bags weigh under 40 pounds apiece, so if you’re consolidating smaller bags into the ones you leave out on the curb, try not to group all the heaviest bags together. Recycling and composting your food waste are other ways to reduce the weight of your trash and help collectors avoid injury.

Kansas City’s solid waste department currently picks up two trash bags from each house for free — residents must purchase tags to set out any more. Read more about the history of the two-bag limit here.

Secure your trash in bags and carts

Loose trash isn’t just a nuisance — it can slow down the job of trash collecting, pose health risks to sanitation workers and contribute to litter in your neighborhood.

“An untied bag or hole can allow collectors to encounter hazardous materials and leave your neighborhood street a littered mess,” city spokesperson Sherae Honeycutt told The Star. “Don’t forget to double bag pet waste and other loose or spoiled items.”

Readers told The Star of animals breaking into trash bags and the exposed debris then blowing around the street.

If you have trash carts in your neighborhood, this also means bagging your trash securely before it goes into the cart. Oxley said that loose trash can go flying when the carts are emptied, and operators don’t have time to chase it down.

Don’t set out your trash carts backwards

Oxley said that a backwards cart is more difficult to empty into the back of a trash truck because of the direction its lid falls open.

“A lot of times that trash will fall on the lid, and if my hopper is full… the lid becomes a catapult and throws the trash that way,” he said, pointing away from the street and into the front yard of a nearby home. “I’ve seen bags go 20 feet.”

Furthermore, it’s harder to set the cart down with its lid closed when it has been put out backwards, he added. When you set your cart out, simply check to make sure the lid opens in the direction of the street. Its hinges should be on the side facing your home.

Dispose of sharp objects safely

If you have haulers in your neighborhood lifting trash bags by hand, this tip is especially important.

Kansas City spokesperson Honeycutt recommended recycling any broken glass in Ripple Glass bins around the city rather than throwing it in the trash.

“Wrap other sharp objects in layers of paper or cardboard or place (them) in a separate container, then place (them) in the trash,” she said. “Place hypodermic syringes in hard plastic such as coffee containers or empty laundry detergent bottles with the lid secured before disposing in the trash.”

Don’t throw out flammable items

Trash trucks apply extreme pressure to the trash you throw away, allowing them to fit as much inside as possible. But this pressure can cause batteries and electronics to combust, starting a fire in the back of the truck.

Oxley has seen it happen multiple times: He once had to dump out a flaming load of trash in an empty parking lot so that firefighters could quickly put out the blaze. He reminded residents to dispose of electronics safely — the Midwest Recycling Center offers electronics recycling in the area — and to ensure that the leftover coals from your weekend cookout have fully cooled before throwing them away.

Do you have more questions about the trash collection process in Kansas City? Ask the Service Journalism team at kcq@kcstar.com.

This story was originally published April 13, 2023 at 5:30 AM.

Natalie Wallington

The Kansas City Star

Natalie Wallington was a reporter on The Star’s service journalism team with a focus on policy, labor, sustainability and local utilities from fall 2021 until early 2025. Her coverage of the region’s recycling system won a 2024 Feature Writing award from the Kansas Press Association.