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Long Beach officials acknowledge rollout problems as new organics curbside program expands
Summary
City staff told council the city has delivered green organics carts to all households but acknowledged missed pickups, call-center strain and staffing gaps; officials outlined hiring, new routing tech and public outreach to stabilize service.
Long Beach — City officials said Tuesday the citywide residential organics collection program is in place but still stabilizing after a phased rollout, acknowledging missed pickups, high call volume and staffing shortfalls while laying out near-term fixes.
City staff told the City Council the department has delivered green organics carts to all eligible households and that four rollout phases are complete. But the public works presentation showed a meaningful spike in missed collections and call-center demand after several rollout phases, with roughly 1,700 missed collections recorded in September — under 1% of the roughly 1.2 million monthly cart services, officials said — and about 10,000 unanswered or dropped calls logged during the busiest periods.
The city framed the program as a state-driven requirement (SB 1383) and said it had prepared by hiring operators, adding…
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