Northern Va. residents face aftermath of trash collection company’s abrupt shutdown
After one Northern Virginia trash provider’s abrupt shutdown, customers across Fairfax and Loudoun counties were left to their own devices, trying to find new services.
Virginia resident Amanda Poline finally found a new provider after five weeks of watching her trash pile up. Poline was on her own following the sudden closure of Haulin’ Trash, which previously provided trash pickup services.
“As of Wednesday, we got our trash picked up but we still have not had our yard waste or recycling picked up,” Poline said, expressing frustration with her new provider, American Disposal Services.
Haulin’ Trash sent emails to residents earlier this year, sharing their struggles.
“We got the initial email saying ‘Hey, bare with us, some of our trucks are broken down. We’re down to just half a fleet, we’re working overtime,'” Poline said, describing the email. “I want to believe that Haulin’ outgrew themselves and it was an unfortunate circumstance, but it was really frustrating.”
Soon after, on November 30, Poline received another email saying the company would shut down the following day.
“We have faced many challenges over the past several weeks that we simply cannot overcome. The ‘keys to the business’ will be handed over to a court-appointed trustee over the next couple of weeks and they will be in charge of any credits or refunds,” the email said.
Poline had paid Haulin’ Trash for one year of service in advance even though the company shut down before year’s end.
“That is a whole [other] battle that we are going to have to fight to see if we can get any of that money back,” she said, adding that the whole ordeal has led her to be more cautious with service providers.
WTOP has reached out to Haulin’ Trash, but they could not be reached for comment.