Dive Brief:

• Three private haulers were contracted to collect waste, yard clippings and recyclables for 177,600 Hillsborough County, Florida residents in what was touted as the largest one-day roll out of an automated trash service in the country.

• Waste Management didn't collect waste from 1,000 homes due to an extended safety meeting, Republic Services experienced issues when five of its new trucks malfunctioned, destroying the mechanized hoppers, and Progressive had problems getting their CNG trucks fueled by three different vendors.

• The county's sanitation help line was inundated with over 1,500 calls about missed collections. A waste consultant noted that the complaints totaled less than 1% of the customer base.

Dive Insight:

There will most likely continue to be some delays and minor glitches as all three companies get familiar with the new routes.