A survey asking Kewanee residents for their opinion on the new trash service was a mixture of both good and bad news for the city of Kewanee and LRS Waste Management Services.
Over 250 residents took The Kewanee Voice’s LRS Trash Removal Satisfaction Survey, which sought to gauge Kewanee residents’ initial thoughts or concerns about the recently contracted service.
Overall, the numbers show that residents, for the most part, are satisfied with the service, although it definitely has its share of critics.
The Kewanee City Council narrowly voted to hire LRS Waste Management in March of this year. In August, LRS delivered a second container for recyclables and the first scheduled pickup began the first week of September.
LRS operates the Atkinson Landfill, where Kewanee’s trash has been taken for the past several years. The company also handles trash and recyclables pickup for a number of Illinois communities.
In a report to the council in February before the council approved the deal, Public Works Director Kevin Newton wrote, “The annual cost to sustain these services (trash and recyclables pickups), which covers the maintenance and operation of a transfer station, is approximately $1.5 million.” He added, “For the city to sustain these services, it will require purchasing new garbage trucks and initiate a bulk recycling program, all at an estimated initial capital cost of around $900.000.”
For its service, LRS Waste Management is charging the city of Kewanee over $1 million for the first year with increases in cost every year for the next five years.
Since the service started several months ago, residents have expressed complaints online through social media. They range from uncollected trash to unwanted recycling containers being left on the curb, and confusing trash and recyclable pickup schedules.
Of the 252 residents who answered the survey, a majority of them seemed to have very few or no issues with the city’s choice for trash service, but there was a portion of the population that was divided on other areas such as reliability, satisfaction and customer service.
Here are the responses to the survey:
Since LRS took over trash removal for Kewanee, how reliable has your trash service been?
On trash pickup reliability, on a scale from one to five, with five being very reliable, 15.5 percent rated the trash service not reliable at all. Slightly less, 11.9 percent, gave LRS a 2 rating for reliability while 18 percent found the service somewhat reliable; 18.7 percent found it reliable, followed by a larger margin of 35.7 percent who found the service very reliable. The survey showed that a slight majority of Kewanee residents found the service reliable or very reliable.
Since LRS took over trash removal for Kewanee, how would you rate your satisfaction with the service?
On a scale of one to five with one being not satisfied at all and five being most satisfied, 49.6 percent of respondents reported being most satisfied or satisfied with the service. The remaining 50.4 percent ranked their satisfaction between not satisfied at all and somewhat satisfied.
True or false: Since LRS has taken over trash removal, I have found the pick-up schedule confusing.
A majority of respondents, 61.1 percent, rated the statement as true. In September, trash and recycling removal were scheduled for different weeks but in October, the city and LRS announced that recycling would be collected first on residents designated collection day, followed by trash collection. The change seemed to further confound residents, and a majority of respondents admitted in the survey to still being confused.
If you have had an issue with your service, have you had difficulty contacting LRS for assistance?
A majority of respondents (62.7 percent) reported in the survey that they have never tried to contact LRS. Of those respondents who did try to contact LRS and those who didn’t, it was evenly divided with 18.7 percent saying they had no difficulty and 18.7 percent saying they had difficulty contacting the company with an issue.
If you have reported a problem to LRS, was it resolved quickly?
Again, a majority of residents responded to the survey that they hadn’t reported a problem. Out of those residents who did report a problem, twice as many residents said no, their issue wasn’t resolved quickly (22.6 percent) than those who reported that their issue was resolved quickly (11.9 percent).
Do you have any suggestions that could improve the service?
Many residents used this question as an opportunity to provide constructive criticism while other residents used this section as an opportunity to vent their frustrations or satisfaction with the service.
Here’s a sampling of the comments:
My service switched from Wed to Mon. It’s hard to remember to put trash out on Sunday. Also, every other week recycling is confusing.
Trash cans not being blue would help. My trash was skipped and when I stopped the driver he stated he wasn’t picking up recycling at the moment, but it was a Kewanee trash can.
More frequent recycling pickup
Our recycles get too full for the every other week pickup. It would be great to go to every week pickup. Also, our trash has been missed multiple times and takes several days to get picked up once LRS has been contacted; not a suggestion, just a statement.
Keep things local.
Weekly recycling. Our bin is basically overflowing with the every other week schedule.
Reading the informational flyer seemed to answer most questions I’ve seen people post about online. I had one week where my trash wasn’t picked up on the correct day and i sent LRS an email and they answered after two days and picked it up the same day they replied to the email
Their customer service is HORRIBLE!!
They’re doing a great job keep up the good work
When the service first started I was told two different days for pickup… but that has been resolved. I have picked up recycling from my yard and the street. That doesn’t seem to be very efficient… I don’t like seeing those items in the street and in yards… a lot of recycled items in tree lines as you travel from West Prospect unto Burlington Ave.
It’s a new system so it should be expected that it’s a little confusing initially. Not sure if LRS has a FB page but notices and updates posted would be appreciated.
My trash was missed one week and I contacted LRS on 3 separate occasions being told they would pick it up that day. They did not pick it up until my regular trash day. If they are going to miss it and not pick it up for a week they should have somewhere we can take it ourselves since it was over flowing with 2 weeks worth of garbage in it.
Quite a few respondents seemed to long for the good old days:
Return the jobs to Kewanee Workers
Go back to Kewanee guys doing the trash and recycling, we never had to deal with it not being picked
Change back
Maybe have the previous trash guys ride with them for a week and show them how to get a routine going.
Use the same pick up schedule and route the Kewanee crew used before LRS took over.
Give the jobs back to the city workers. They did a better job and the recycling system was better then too.
Give the job back to the city workers they are more reliable
Go back to the city picking my trash up. One week it took 4 phone calls and 4 days to pick my trash up. UNACCEPTABLE!!!!
go back to the way it was
Other respondents felt their service was above average.
Everything is going well on pleasant st in Kewanee. Thank you
I love our service! We live on a street that’s on a zone border so our neighbors are confused. I’ve tried to inform them which days are correct but they refuse to listen to me. My trash and recycling always gets picked up by the end of the day, thank you guys for your hard work! We love LRS. I think Kewanee is a little hard-headed.
I have none. I am extremely satisfied. It’s nice to be able to have a bulky item out every week!
I have not had any issues with LRS thus far. My service has been picked up when it is supposed to be.
Not really, it seems like the service is good and better than the City – at least with this service you have a voice. With the city, any issues fell on deaf ears.
Other comments included a need for consistency with trash pickup, along with suggestions to make it less confusing such as picking up recyclables on set days.
One respondent provided a tip for how residents might keep their trash and recycling schedule straight:
“Honestly, the service has been great, including the lawn waste pick-up. I keep a calendar in my garage to keep right on the recycling weeks. The new recycling bin helps me recycle more than I used to so I feel great about that.”
